Teletronic Issue 3 Spring/Summer 2014

Teletronic

ISSUE

03 Spring/ Summer 2014

THE ONLINE MAGAZINE OF TELEVISION HEAVEN

Also featured this issue Waterloo Road School’s out forever!

British TV at its Best

Corrie The Changing Face of the Cobbles

Welcome to our biggest ever issue.

It’s The Brits in America UK Dramas Hits

On these pages you will find

Disneyland How Disney Married the Enemy

reviews of and articles on current and classic TV

A For Andromeda Cult series review

programmes from the UK, easy

Downton Abbey - The Facts of Fiction?

links to purchase our

Remaking A Classic Sanford and Son

recommended DVD’s, an obituary section and the history of television in Britain and America.

Teletronic is the e-zine of

Doctor Who - The Day of the Doctor

D

50th anniversary episode reviewed

Television Heaven the classic television review website.

Television Heaven is a privately owned website. All articles are copyright

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authors. No reproduction can be made without permission.

Contact Teletronic or Television Heaven at televisionheaven@hotmail.co.uk

Plus: Does British television truly reflect today’s multicultural society?

Dark Dystopia - Black Mirror & Utopia.

Cops on the Box - The history of British police dramas.

The Best of British - Ten British TV shows you simply ‘must’ see.

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Teletronic - Spring/Summer 2014

A Cult Classic: A for Andromeda

Now recognised as a classic science fiction series, A for Andromeda was developed for television by writer and BBC producer John Elliot from an original storyline by Cambridge astronomer and novelist Fred Hoyle.

In 1970 a radio telescope in the Yorkshire Dales picks up a series of signals from the remote constellation of Andromeda. These signals are then decoded by brilliant young scientist John Fleming (Peter Halliday), and in spite of opposition from his overambitious colleague, Dennis Bridger (Frank Windsor), Fleming reveals that the signals are instructions for the construction of a super computer, which is duly built under Government supervision on a remote Scottish island.

The computer's 'message' reveals the inhuman arrogance of its creators, who believed that by informing others of what they have been through and showing them a path forward (which requires a certain amount of tyranny) they would save all the races who receive the message from destroying themselves.

To get its message across, the computer creates an embryo based on a female lab assistant that it had electrocuted. The embryo rapidly developes into a replica of the girl and is given the name Andromeda. (continued…)

Downton Abbey - The Facts of Fiction?

by Onome Okwuosa Perhaps such a father figure did exist during the Edwardian period. It’s a position that I’m sure was easier to support when you’ve got the likes of butler Carson (Jim Carter) and the other members of the middle class servant family, air-brushing reality between the Upstairs dwellers and the Downstairs lot. Maybe if he traded places with the likes of scullery maid Daisy (Sophia McShera) for a week… nope, that wouldn’t really do very much as the show paints her as the ever grateful servant. The domestic Margaret Powell whose memoirs Below Stairs inspired the 1970’s show Upstairs, Downstairs and Downton Abbey, looked at her list of chores and thought it was for 6 people. Daisy’s character is so sweet and lovely she gives the impression scullery The moment you start dipping in history, the criticisms flood in and Downton is no exception. Why maids scrubbed their way to enlightenment. paint such a romantic view of the era, why not take It’s not just the countess that has us keeping the rose the rose tinted glasses off and parade the abject poverty and social discontent? ‘Because I don’t want -tinteds firmly on when watching Downton Abbey, there’s an amazing subtlety to the way the series to!’ I’m sure was his response. Fellowes with guest writers Tina Pepler and Shelagh Stephenson focus on handles social reforms. The Earl of Grantham Robert Crawley (Hugh Bonneville) plays the stereotypical a slither of society that considering all that was conservative that believes, even if it’s only on the happening around them, we’re supposed to loathe. surface that it’s his duty to hold on to the template of Instead, we fall in love with the lords and ladies of the estate, gush at their romantic trials and swoon at tradition. Were it not for the breed of super-rich providing employment for the microcosm that is their upsets.

Downton Abbey, there’d be “no point to any of it”.

Since the characters of Downton Abbey first filled our screens on September 26th 2010, they’ve run around the globe gathering fans and awards with hurtling speed. Jullian Fellowes, famous for writing about the goings on of the upper classes penned the script for Gosford Park and the novel Snobs, took a long hard look at Britain muddling her way through the Edwardian period and thought the Yorkshire estate of Lord and Lady Crawley would make the perfect backdrop for his latest historical fiction series.

Maggie Smith is a comical impersonation of herself as the sprint-witted Countess of Grantham who’s a pro at dinner party politics.

Despite delivering some of the most scalding of sarcastic lines, you can’t help but warm to her as a near parody of the period. Sure she’s bristly at best but she’s fiercely loyal to those blessed to be considered family. She’s the first to wave the issue of class difference away and welcome the former driver and family servant Tom Branson (Allen Leech) into the family; even though it’s while spinning a believable lie about his background, so he’ll be more readily accepted in her world.

That’s the brilliance of Downton Abbey, it takes some of the ethically challenging issues such as obscene wealth inequality, a class based society, and dunks it in a bucket of nostalgia. Before you know it you’re melting. You can’t focus on the fact that the black market is food based or that the suffragette movement had women being bloodied in police cells.

Not when the Abbey’s matriarch, Countess Grantham is using her wealth and influence to make sure the fatally wounded footman William is brought home to spend his dying days surrounded by loved ones.

I guess if you’ve got the ever ready offer of homelessness and starvation as an alternative to catering to the whims of the absurdly wealthy, you make the best of what you’ve got. So that’s exactly what the servant folk at Downton do. The female staff grin and bear the unequal pay while the men are forced to try and make themselves look relevant despite their clear redundancy. How can either Lord Crawley or man servant Joseph Molesley (Kevin Doyle) handle their careers suddenly being seen as a “silly occupation for a man”? They like the rest of the Abbey, stiff upper lip it and plod on to discover their new worth.

From losing loved ones on the Titanic, the war claiming lives and shattering through pretensions, Downton Abbey is a leisurely stroll through Edwardian Britain as she heralds a new age. One where upper class feminists cause a stir by wearing trousers and snip at the paternal umbilical cord by applying to nursing school and pursuing careers.

Fellowes’ lens on Britain is rosy to say the least, but rather than romanticise the period, it “has a way of distinguishing between the things that matter and the things that don’t”.

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A Cult Classic: A for Andromeda (continued)

The machine then becomes dangerous when Fleming tries to interfere with it, which it would not tolerate. However, under the admiring and human influence of Fleming the girl eventually rejects her mechanical master and the world is made safe once more. Until, that is, the second series, The Andromeda Breakthrough, in which Fleming and Andromeda are kidnapped by the evil Kaufman (John Hollis), who works for a Swiss business cartel called Intel, whose aim it is to build another computer.

The series was notable for being the BBC's first attempt at adult science fiction since the highly successful Quatermass serials, and for the introduction of Julie Christie (as Andromeda), who was discovered at a drama school by producer Michael Hayes. In the second series Susan Hampshire played the girl.

Although all of The Andromeda Breakthrough exists in the BBC archives, only about 11 minutes of A For Andromeda has survived, although it is generally believed that one episode is held in private hands.

The BBC made a new version which was broadcast on Monday 13th November 2006.

Laurence Marcus

Teletronic - Spring/Summer 2014

School’s Out Forever!

As Waterloo Road prepares for its final term, Tim Rands looks at the appeal of going back to school once more.

With nine series and 180 episodes under its belt Waterloo Road is a series that certainly hit a chord with its audience. Set in the fictional Waterloo Road School its mass appeal can be attributed to its teacher/pupil character dynamic; one we can all relate to, whilst, of course, there’s also a school similar to Waterloo Road in most towns in England.

With the children of Waterloo Road School seemingly more troublesome than ever, staff bemoaning being overworked and underpaid, and the doom and gloom of school budgets becoming tighter and tighter, there was something realistically charming and instantly recognizable – and its intended ‘family with teenagers’ audience soon took it to heart. Add in the usual day-to-day troubles, a spot of class differential, and a splash of racism and sexism – and there were instantly lots of dramatic story threads which gained the audience’s empathy and kept them interested in the characters.

Perhaps the biggest stroke of genius that writers Anne McManus and Maureen Chadwick had was showing that whether the characters were teachers or pupils they all had problems to deal with both inside and outside school. There was also the underlying theme of that all children deserve the chance to receive a good education regardless of their social standing – and the difference an inspiring, motivated teacher can have on a child’s life. This was the ethos of Waterloo Road and all the pupils there came to realise it – as did the audience.

The show’s popularity with its audience gave its producers major pulling power when it came to attracting a well-known cast. Actors have included Angus Deayton, Neil Pearson, Nicola Stephenson, Angela Griffin, Denise Welch, Neil Morrisey, Eva Pope, Tim Healy, Amanda Burton and Tina O’Brien, who have all starred alongside strong supporting casts. However, whilst star names certainly added to the show’s overall appeal, it is the great storylines that have kept the audience coming back for more, many of which reflected prominent stories in the news at the time. Also, whilst previous school based dramas such as Grange Hill were mainly aimed at children or Teachers at adults, Waterloo Road managed to unite a family audience, dramatising current and real-life issues; igniting much needed discussions between generations in the process.

Originally filmed in Rochdale, the show faced the axe after the fourth series when the its location was due to be demolished. However, these plans were postponed and three more series were filmed in Rochdale. For the eighth and ninth series, the show relocated to its current home in Greenock Scotland. Sadly, it has been announced that the tenth series will be the final with the show’s producers promising the show will go out with a bang with the last ten episodes set to be broadcast in early 2015.

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About the writer of this article:

Teletronic - Spring/Summer 2014

Frank Collins is a freelance writer, event and project manager. He writes about British film and television, international cinema and occasionally will have something to say about books, theatre, music and design. Quite a lot of it has been about Doctor Who including the recently published Doctor Who: The Pandorica Opens.

A unique view of a television icon, providing much food for thought, this book is essential reading for fans of the new series. It's also supplemented with some wonderful photographs, including a section of full colour plates, taken by fans who regularly visit filming in and around Cardiff.

Fank Collins' ever excellent Cathode Ray Tube, described as "the quintessence of British Pop culture blogs," is top of many television fans Favourites List. It is one of the best TV blogspots on the Internet. Visit Cathode Ray Tube for reviews of popular TV series including all of the final series of Ashes To Ashes, Doctor Who, as well as video reviews of classic and retro TV series and films.

Frank has also contributed a

Television anniversary stories in Doctor Who are strange affairs. They have to strike a balance. On one hand they are expected to cram in fan-pleasing moments to acknowledge the rich history of the series, to be fronted by multiple versions of the Doctor and they demand the presence of iconic monsters; and on the other hand they have to have a decent but straightforward plot, a narrative that will appeal to the widest possible demographic and hook the many family generations who enjoy having Doctor Who in their lives. Previous anniversary stories have tackled this balancing act with varying degrees of success.

The most prominent television specials are those celebrating the 10th and 20th birthdays - The Three Doctors and The Five Doctors. The 30th was an EastEnders less than charitable cross-over called Dimensions in Time, shot in an unimpressive 3D process, and over which we should draw a discreet veil. The 40th was quietly left to the books, audios and animation of the so-called 'Wilderness Years' but all of which were put into the shade somewhat by the September 2003 announcement Doctor Who was coming back onto telly.

So, The Day of the Doctor follows in this tradition and, on the whole, tips the balance favourably in most directions, even upping the ante in the 3D stakes with a spectacular presentation on the Red Button service and on thousands of cinema screens. One of the most mind boggling aspects to The Day of the Doctor is the global impact it has made. It confirms Doctor Who as a truly global brand, a worldwide phenomenon, with the 75-minute special simulcast in 94 countries. That's millions of people all watching Doctor Who, all around the world, at the same time on the same day. Barry Letts and John Nathan-Turner must be looking down, from whichever afterlife they may occupy, with a mixture of pride, jealousy and awe.

chapter to Doctor Who: The

Eleventh Hour - A Critical Celebration of the Matt Smith and Steven Moffat Era.

Mind you, if anyone wanted to relive the sheer embarrassment of Dimensions in Time BBC3 were on hand to provide a Proustian rush of car crash television of the highest grade with their Doctor Who: The After Party. The lasting image of it is of Steven Moffat with his head in his hands surrounded by 50 years worth of uncomfortable looking former Doctors and companions as all his hard work was instantly undone by Zoe Ball's horrific timedelayed interview with inarticulate members of pop combo One Direction.

I digress. For such an anticipated event, The Day of the Doctor is primarily a rather intimate story about the central character, about the last of the Time Lords. Yes, it has scale, spectacle, shock and awe but when it boils down to it, Moffat's script forges many connections to anniversary stories past and present with a similar focus on the mythical figure of the Doctor.

Purchase The Day of the Doctor from Amazon UK

The Day of the Doctor revisits the mythology of the Doctor and his responsibility for ending the Time War, by destroying both the Time Lords and the Daleks. It explores the themes of his legitimacy and culpability, through the character of the War Doctor, themes which reflect the very essence of the character and are very much in tune with ideas in The Three Doctors and The Five Doctors.

(continued) 4

We’re The Brits in

Teletronic - Spring/Summer Teletronic - April 2014 2014

Obituary: Kate O’Mara

A m e r i c a ( c o n ti n u e d )

This then leads us on to considering how BBC America has revolutionised American television and in turn has had a great influence upon how Americans view television with the massive influx of British programmes. BBC America state on their website that they offer the best in British entertainment Actress who died and youKate can’tO’Mara really argue with after a short illness on Sunday 30 this when they broadcast Doctor March Who. 2014 played Time Lord villain The Rani in two Doctor In thestories 1960s between British television Who 1985 and invaded America and the 1987, and also in the 30thsame is happening with anniversarytoday special forthe Children In introduction of both BBC In Need entitled Dimensions America and the likes of Netflix.

Time.

In truth many of the broadcasting Kate O'Mara 10 August networks are was nowborn showcasing 1939 as Frances Meredith Carroll British talent. There is a tendency in Leicester.

Kate'saudiences father wasto now for American John Carroll, an RAF flying than enjoy British shows rather instructor, and his wife, Hazel watching native remakes, all Bainbridge, a busy touring things British truly seem toactor have who took the children with her been embraced, wherever she worked. Her There is also need younger sistera is the now actorfor high quality wellwho written dramas Belindaand Carroll, always and television series, people called her Merrie. Kate was have become of all the expelled from bored her convent school reality shows areonbeing in Woking andthat went an aired and showstrip made in Britain can exchange to learn French. offer this for the American She made her movie debut in a audience.

This has beenand clearly 1956 film called ‘Home shown under by thethe enormous Away’ name Merrie popularity of Sherlock in the Carroll. The movie starred Jack States shown on PBS. Another Warner (as her father), Kathleen consideration is thatHird. popular Harrison and Thora In spite British series such as Downton of coming from a theatre family Abbey and Sherlock have she didn't make her stage debut relatively seasons and until 1963short in a production of this ‘The perhaps creates a stronger Merchant of Venice.’ The cast with moreyear edgeshe and strongerin following appeared storylines as more time an episode of No HidingisPlace available to craft them. and very soon found herself in demand Britishtelevision television, ThereforeonBritish apeearing in aare number of classic programmes absolutely rife shows such as Danger Man, in America with audiences The Saint, Theand Avengers, The accepting enjoying them Champions, Department S and with huge viewer ratings to prove The Persuaders! this.

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‘The Name You Choose, it’s like, it’s like a promise you make. He’s the one who broke the promise’ Before I demonstrate what I mean by this we need to go back to the finale of the last series, The Name of the Doctor. Moffat obviously has to answer the big question - just who is this Doctor played by John Hurt, who completely delivers on his casting, revealed to us in the closing moments of the episode? Stepping into his own time stream to rescue Clara, the Doctor comes face to face with an old man, the man with no name or at least one who has given up the name of Doctor.

An illegitimate offspring who has, according to the Eleventh Doctor, forsaken his name. 'The name you choose, it's like, it's like a promise you make. He's the one who broke the promise,' explains the Doctor. Essentially, the old man is the bastard, the black sheep of the family no one really likes to talk about. He's done a terrible thing.

Other incarnations of the Doctor and other Time Lords have at one point or another been shunned or gone off the rails. In The Three Doctors, the Time Lords come under assault from one of their own, stellar engineer Omega left to go mad in the anti-matter attic of a black hole. To save themselves they turn to the Doctor, the embarrassing relative brushed under the carpet and exiled to Earth. It takes the combined forces of three Doctors to put the universe back on track and their success legitimises the Third Doctor. Until then, he was marooned on Earth, unable to completely fulfil his desire to travel the universe again, righting wrongs, never being cruel or cowardly. He is forgiven and properly takes his place within the echelons of the other Doctors.

When we get to The Five Doctors, the Doctor is again dragged into a 'family' feud. This time old mentor Borusa has been seduced by the darkest machinations of the Time Lord legacy, corrupted by the promise of immortality. The Doctor, still very much a renegade tolerated by the Time Lords, comes to the rescue. His reward is to take up his official duties as Lord President of his own people but he has his own legitimacy to look after. Rather than conform, off he goes in the TARDIS again. After all, that's how it all started.

So there's a pattern. The Doctor is in and out of favour, always having to prove himself to his fellow Time Lords by often battling against other members of the family who've got themselves into a pickle. When we get to the The Name of the Doctor and The Day of the Doctor Moffat takes the idea and makes it the central tenet of a long evolving backstory of which we've previously only had glimpses and mentions: the Time War. The darkest day in Time Lord history, the Time War between Gallifrey and Skaro has ultimately been responsible for the survivor guilt of the Ninth and Tenth incarnations of the Doctor, the last of the Time Lords after he commits genocide. Behind this act lies the mystery of the Doctor with no name, the old man played by John Hurt and, at the heart of The Day of the Doctor, his redemption. This is, in part, the story of legitimising the War Doctor.

The War Doctor, as we know, came into being during the six minute prequel The Night of the Doctor when the dying Eighth Doctor regenerated at the behest of the Sisterhood of Karn who foresaw the unravelling of the universe as the Time War raged. The Doctor was transformed into the warrior they believed could halt the disaster.

The implication here and in The Day of the Doctor is that the War Doctor spent many years fighting to halt the atrocities committed by both sides in the War.

(continued) 5

W ’ r e Tshe h e appeared B r i t s i n in two Ine1970,

Teletronic - Spring/Summer Teletronic - April 2014 2014

AHammer m e r i c aStudio ( c o n tihorror n u e dfilms: ) ‘The Vampire Lovers’ and ‘The Horror This then leads us on to of Frankenstein.’ In the former, considering how BBC America she had an erotically charged has revolutionised American scene with Ingrid Pitt, in which television and in turn has had a O'Mara was meant to be great influence upon how seduced; the two women were Americans view television with left laughing on set, however, as the massive influx of British Pitt's fangs kept falling into programmes. BBC America state O'Mara's cleavage. O'Mara's on their website that they offer work in ‘The Vampire Lovers’ the best in British entertainment impressed Hammer enough for and you can’t really argue with them to offer her a contract, this when they broadcast Doctor which she turned down, fearful of Who. being typecast.

In the 1960s British television Later she became known to the invaded America and the same is British public as a stalwart of happening today with the many popular television soaps introduction of both BBC such as The Brothers, Howards' America and the likes of Netflix.

Way, a revival of Crossroads and In truth many of the broadcasting sadly, Triangle, the BBC made networks are now showcasing North Sea ferry saga that even British talent. There is a tendency the Beeb included on an evening now for American audiences to of worst-ever TV shows. She enjoy British shows rather than watching native remakes, all things British truly seem to have been embraced, There is also a need now for high quality and well written dramas and television series, people have become bored of all on the made guest appearances reality showsand thatWise are being aired Morecambe and The and shows made in Britain can up Two Ronnies – always playing offer for thesiren-like American to herthis vampish, audience. This hasmade beenaclearly reputation – and drop-in shown by theonenormous appearance Absolutely popularityasofPatsy Sherlock in the Fabulous Stone's sister, States shown on PBS. Another Jackie.

Internationally she was consideration that known for her is role ofpopular the British series such as Downton manipulative Cassandra "Caress" Abbey and Sherlockalongside have Morrell in Dynasty, relatively short and this Joan Collins whoseasons Tweeted: perhaps creates a stronger cast "Tragic news about Kate O'Mara, withhad more edge we great funand on stronger Dynasty storylines as moremy time is when she played sister available RIP." to craft them.

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Therefore British television More recently Kate had appeared programmes are absolutely in ITV soap Benidorm and a rife 2012 in America with audiences stage adaptation of Agatha accepting‘Death and enjoying Christie's On Thethem Nile.’ with of huge ratings to prove One herviewer final public this. Television at her the hosting end of the appearances saw An day is there to Kate entertain andinit ‘Evening With O'Mara’ has nowlast been proved that British London October. television made programmes can To many fans Kate O'Mara, do so in America. whose career spanned 60 Karolina epitomised the glamour decades, of the 1980s.

‘The final scene of David Bradley and Matt Smith in An Adventure in Space and Time is rather like the Tenth and the Eleventh respecting and legitimising the actions of the War Doctor’ Moffat therefore takes up the reigns of the mythology created by his predecessor Russell T Davies and pulls the narrative back from its 'year zero' implications. Even when Davies brought the Time Lords back in The End of Time, he was very careful to put them and the renegade Master back into the time lock from which they'd briefly escaped.

The Doctor was still, at that stage, left scarred by his act of genocide and Davies clearly felt it was legitimate for the character to continue as 'the lonely god' with a massive chip of inner conflict still on his shoulder. However, at that point he handed the show over to Steven Moffat who took the Doctor on a slightly different journey.

The day before The Day of the Doctor (that sounds weird) BBC2 gave us An Adventure in Space and Time, a dramatisation of the creation of Doctor Who in 1963. Uncannily, the central themes in Mark Gatiss's script were concerned with William Hartnell's personal battle to be 'legitimate' as an actor and escape his own troubled background. The drama's effect was to reconfigure Hartnell's place in the pantheon of actors who have played the Doctor, to understand the conflicts in his personal life that were expressed in his attitudes towards the part, his relationships with fellow cast and crew members.

In a strange, unexpected way the two mythologies converge. Or maybe not. Maybe Moffat and Gatiss had a conflab over a sweet sherry. Well... who knows. Who knows, eh. Moffat reaches back into past fictional narrative and frames the Doctor's authenticity within the greater arc of the Time War, and the emergence of his alter ego the War Doctor, to resolve an existential and moral crisis. At the same time, Gatiss lovingly recreates the past within a television production context, makes us rethink our attitudes towards Hartnell's abilities as a performer and resolves the First Doctor's important position in the family line of actors who went on to play the part.

The final scene of David Bradley and Matt Smith in An Adventure on Space and Time is rather like the Tenth and the Eleventh respecting and legitimising the actions of the War Doctor, acknowledging the debt they owe to him in The Day of the Doctor. John Hurt is or becomes the Doctor because they take responsibility for him. The Day of the Doctor's wonderful cameo featuring Tom Baker as 'the curator' also operates in a similar way. The past and the future overlap. One cannot exist without the other. Tom, as elder statesman, is saying to Matt, and similarly the Fourth Doctor is asking the Eleventh Doctor, not to forget those whom have served, whether in the Time War or in Lime Grove D. These scenes don't just serve as a kiss to the past, they - to put it in Moffat-ian terms - positively snog its face off and use tongues.

Oh... (starts sounding like Tom Baker)... and what kisses, eh. What kisses. The hypnotic swirls of the original title sequence, the programme's title in its original font, the original Derbyshire arrangement of the title music and a policeman on the beat as the shipping forecast drifts in the air. An Unearthly Child bleeds into The Day of the Doctor as the policeman, in monochrone, gains colour and passes by 76 Totter's Lane and the Coal Hill School where today its Chairman of the Governors is one I. Chesterton. He must be a ripe old age.

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We’re The Brits in

Teletronic - Spring/Summer Teletronic - April 2014 2014

Obituary: Derek Martinus A m e r i c a ( c o n ti n u e d ) This then leads us on to considering how BBC America has revolutionised American television and in turn has had a great influence upon how Americans view television with the massive influx of British programmes. BBC America state on their website that they offer the best in British entertainment Derek Martinus, who died on and you can’t really argue with March 27, 2014 aged 82, was this when they broadcast Doctor responsible for many early Who. episodes of Doctor Who, in which In worked the 1960s British television he with William Hartnell, invadedTroughton America and Patrick andthe Jonsame is happening today with the Pertwee.

Born in Ilford, Essex, to introduction of both BBC Jack Butenhuis, a meat America and likes ofmarket, Netflix. wholesaler at the Smithfield In truth manyIrene of the broadcasting and his wife, Derek adopted networks arehisnow showcasing the name of grandfather, British talent.

There is a tendency Johan Martinus Buitenhuis, a now for American audiences to meat trader from Rotterdam, for enjoy Britishpurposes. shows rather than professional The family watching native remakes, all lived in Gidea Park, and Derek things British truly seem to studied at Brentwood school.have As embraced, abeen young man he joined an amateur group, the Taverners, as There is also a need now for high did Timothy West.written After national quality and well dramas service in the RAF, Derek studied and television series, people directing and acting at the have become bored of all the University of Oklahoma and Yale reality shows that are being aired school of drama, by thecan midand shows madeand in Britain 50s was in Britain, working offer thisback for the American as a jobbing actor in regional rep. audience. This has been clearly shown enormous In 1959 by he the went on a study tour popularity of Sherlock of Scandinavian theatreinonthe which States shown on PBS. Another he met his future wife, Eivor. consideration is that popular He worked as an actor and British series such as Downton director with various repertory Abbey and Sherlock have and touring companies before relatively short seasons and this being contracted to the BBC as a perhaps creates a stronger cast director. Doctor Who was one of with more edge and stronger his first assignments with the storylines as more time is BBC. He joined the series in 1965 available to craft them. at the beginning of the third Therefore British series, directing alltelevision the episodes programmes are absolutely in the Galaxy 4 storyline. He rife later in America with audiences recalled: “William Hartnell acceptingme andwith enjoying regarded great them suspicion with huge viewer ratings to prove when I arrived. He knew I was the this.

Television at the end ofto the new boy and he wasn’t slow day is there to entertain and it remind me how many hundreds has nowhe’d been proved that British of films done and how many television made programmes can directors he’d advised on how to do so in America. get the shots” Karolina

‘Waste no more time about what a good man should be. Be one.’

Ironically, Clara is there teaching her pupils. How she made the leap from nanny to teacher is open to debate but she's already framing the examination of the Doctor's conscience at the heart of the episode by quoting Marcus Aurelius: 'Waste no more time about what a good man should be. Be one.' Off she speeds, at 5.16pm of course, to meet the Doctor in a bravura sequence where she rides her motorbike through the TARDIS doors and into the console room in one continuous shot.

The spectacle, which looks great in 3D, is ramped up even further by a dazzling sequence where the TARDIS is airlifted by U.N.I.T to Trafalgar Square. A global brand needs to emphasise its essential qualities so the spectacular views above London and the familiar London landmarks cleave more to the Russell T Davies school of showmanship than Moffat's but this a title sequence designed to grab your attention.

With images of Derren Brown's home filled with flowers of apology from U.N.I.T after using him as a cover story for such stunts, the episode moves on to the story proper. Sealed orders from Elizabeth I bring the Doctor, Kate Stewart (Jemma Redgrave) and Osgood (Ingrid Oliver), the scarf wearing U.N.I.T scientist, to the National Gallery where a piece of 3D Time Lord art, a painting of the Fall of Arcadia, Gallifrey's second city, and entitled No More or Gallifrey Falls, is on display.

Elizabeth is sending him a message and for the Doctor it is a painful reminder of the last day of the Time War when 'the other me, the one I don't talk about' fought in the war on 'the day he killed them all.' There's slippage between 'he' and 'I' - denial working overtime it seems - as director Nick Hurran uses a close up of Matt Smith's eyes and transposes upon them the lines of age from John Hurt's face, underlining the fact that within the youthful Smith's visage the older man lives on.

This confessional allows Hurran to use the concept of the 3D painting, a slice of frozen time, to great effect. The camera swoops into the painting and the last day of the War bursts into life. It is an exceptional, spectacular sequence as the Daleks bombard the Time Lord city, buildings explode, ships whizz by and citizens attempt to scramble to safety. That primal fear that children have of the Daleks is brought home effectively in a scene where the Daleks round up survivors, including the children clutching their toys. It's a heady mixture of Star Wars and reportage that breathtakingly culminates with the War Doctor slamming the TARDIS into the Daleks and knocking them over like skittles.

The words 'No More', blasted into the wall by the Doctor, serve as a reminder of his fall from status as conscientious objector and now reluctantly getting his hands dirty. It's also the first of many clues in plain sight, a familiar Moffat trait, that echo the sentiments of the drama. A dying Dalek puzzles over their meaning. No more hiding the dark Doctor's legacy and no more anxiety about the fall of Gallifrey and his hand in it, perhaps?

From here we are whisked into Gallifrey's War Room. When did the Time Lords last take up arms on such a scale as this, when did they last have generals leading them into battle? No wonder the Doctor was a reluctant bystander, no wonder Cass shrank back from being rescued above Karn. The Time Lords have become war mongers to be feared and not respected. If you wanted evidence as to why the Sisterhood of Karn needed a warrior to fight on the side of the universe then look no further. We might talk about the Doctor's authenticity being compromised by the existence of the War Doctor but it seems his peers have undergone something of a similar transformation.

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We’re The Brits in

Teletronic - Spring/Summer Teletronic - April 2014 2014

“We sort of found a way of

Acommunicating, m e r i c a ( c o n tias n uone e d )had to do. remember theon dear ThisI then leads us to old man saying, ‘I have carte considering how BBCblanche Americaon all the casting and all the script has revolutionised American alterations, because they television and in turn has can’t had ado the serial without me.’” great influence upon how Americansthe view television However, BBC decided with to go the massive influx of British ahead without Hartnell after all programmes.

America state and Martinus BBC was on hand to on their direct thewebsite actor'sthat last they serialoffer The the best in British entertainment Tenth Planet, which not only and you can’t arguebut with introduced thereally Cybermen this when they broadcast Doctor also featured the first ever Who. regeneration.

His final serial for the programme, Spearhead In the 1960s British televisionfrom Space (1970). wasand alsothe thesame first is invaded America to be made in colour. happening today with the introduction both BBC In what was aofgolden age for TV AmericaDerek and the likes on of Netflix. drama, worked longIn truth many of series the broadcasting running popular such as Znetworks showcasing Cars (overare 50 now episodes) and British talent.

There a tendency Angels, and directedisclassic now forsuch American audiences to serials as Dumas's The Black enjoy(1970), British shows rather than Tulip and Sybille watching remakes, Bedford's native A Legacy (1975),allwith things British truly seem have Claire Bloom and Jeremy to Brett. been embraced, He twice won the Pye award for

‘...the Moment, a super-weapon so powerful it developed sentience.’

There is some stunning design work on screen here befitting a big screen epic. The Time Lords look splendid in a form of battle gear that merges the Gallifreyan symbols of old with the new graphics created for the series since 2005. The lighting is particularly effective with searchlights sweeping over figures caught in silhouette and dappling faces in the half dark.

We discover that the Moment, a super-weapon so powerful it developed sentience, has been taken by the Doctor. It is this weapon, this Moment in the hands of the Doctor, which finishes the Time War. As if to confirm his previous messages and intentions, the War Doctor serves notice on the Daleks and Time Lords: 'Too long have I stayed my hand.

No more.' As the Doctor searches for a way to operate what looks like a super-sized version of Hellraiser's Lament Configuration, he is visited by the machine's interface and conscience.

Rose Tyler, or the Bad Wolf version of her, is plucked from the Doctor's future memories as a ghost of Christmas to come to show the Doctor, or the man who claims to have lost the right to be the Doctor, the consequences of his action in a war where all of space and time is burning. She wants to show him the man he will become, the last of the Time Lords, in order to inform his decision to use the Moment and complete the mutually assured destruction of Gallifrey and the Daleks. Billie Piper is quite different here, reprising her attitude as the Bad Wolf in command of the vortex seen at the end of The Parting of the Ways. Here she is again, a sentient weapon determining the Doctor's destiny. It's a strange, precise performance and quietly disturbing to see a Rose Tyler so unlike the Rose Tyler we all knew. She informs the War Doctor his punishment is to become the last survivor of the war. As the future Doctors know the first rule of survivor's guilt is you don't talk about survivor's guilt. You try and bury it. The Moment is trying to uncover what best drama, first Therechildren's is also a need now forwith high happens when you find meaning and make sense out of these experiences.

The Paper then with quality andLads, well written dramas Much of this ties into Moffat's perennial themes about memory, remembrance and forgetting, Not only does he imbue Dodger, Bonzo and Rest. In and television series,the people his creatures with powers to erase memory and change perception but he also taps into the power of memory with the the 1970sbored Derekof returned havelate become all the to theatre both in Britain and aired Doctor and his companions. In The Day of the Doctor this is writ large in the Moment's determination to get the future reality shows that are being Doctors to remember their forgotten incarnation via 'a tangle in time through the days to come', to remember the Sweden, where his wife and shows madeheinand Britain can millions of children killed on Gallifrey. The Moment offers a way for Moffat to intertwine the lives and actions of the had summer home.

He offerathis for the American Doctors and to remember the forgotten. introduced Harold The audience. This has Pinter's been clearly Homecoming Caryl shown by the and enormous Churchill's Mad Forest Swedish popularity of Sherlock to in the audiences as well as doing classic States shown on PBS. Another plays by Shakespeare, Jonson consideration is that popular and Dekker.

Back such homeasheDownton directed a British series West End thriller, The Killing Abbey and Sherlock have Game (1981), Hannah relatively shortwith seasons and this Gordon Petera Gilmore, for perhapsand creates stronger cast So far so good.

Bill Kenwright. with more edge and stronger Queen Elizabeth I has brought the Doctor to the National Gallery and the crucial painting. Her message to the future has storylines as more time Derek Martinus died on is 27 March been handed over to the Doctor by U.N.I.T and the painting of Gallifrey, a slice of time frozen in Time Lord art by an available to age craftofthem.

2014 at the 82 from unknown artist, is evidence of her true credentials. In a bizarre subplot we discover that the Time Lord art is being used complications arising from Therefore British television

by Zygons in the past to bide their time, hide inside the works of art, and emerge to invade the future.

Alzheimer's which he programmesdisease, are absolutely rife had suffered from for many in America with audiences years. accepting and enjoying them The mood shifts from sombre reflection to something of a romp as the Tenth Doctor's hijinks with Queen Elizabeth with huge viewer ratings to prove (Joanna Page) in 1562, which pick up some continuity references from The Shakespeare Code and The End of Time, not this. Television at the end of the only show him marrying her through a case of mistaken identity but also reveal the Zygons' plan. The return of the day is there to entertain and it Zygons is handled particularly well and the make up and costume designs are more or less unchanged from their 1975 has now been proved that British appearance. Hissing and roaring into view, they look very impressive and imposing. However, their presence is merely a television made programmes can sub-plot to get us to a position where their knack for hiding inside Time Lord paintings offers a potential way of saving do so in America.

Gallifrey as the Daleks bombard the planet.

Karolina

(continued) 8

We’re The Brits in

Teletronic - Spring/Summer Teletronic - April 2014 2014

A Cult Classic to buy on DVD:

A m e r i c a ( c o n ti n u e d ) This then leads us on to considering how BBC America has revolutionised American television and in turn has had a great influence upon how Americans view television with the massive influx of British programmes. BBC America state on their website that they offer ‘...Am I having a mid-life crisis?’ the best in British entertainment The Zygon plan is to invade the planet by breaking into U.N.I.T's Black Vault of alien technology by impersonating Kate and you can’t really argue with Stewart and Osgood. It provides a parallel narrative to the Doctor's own dilemma. Kate Stewart finds herself face to face The Prisoner (1967) this when they broadcast Doctor with her Zygon counterpart with no choice but to blow the Vault up with a nuclear warhead and kill millions to save Who. The Prisoner’s Patrick McGoohan billions. The Doctor complicates matters by using the Black Vault's security system, which wipes the memories of people had previously starred in In the 1960s British television who work there (Moffat re-employing his tropes again), to confuse the Zygon and human identities in the room. No one acclaimed 60s spyand series invaded America theDanger same is knows whether they are Zygon or human. The two parties are therefore left to negotiate from this standpoint, unable to Man as a no-nonsense British happening today with the justify their use of the nuclear weapon for fear of wiping out the wrong side. This is what philosopher John Rawls calls Intelligence agent called introduction of both BBCJohn the 'original position' - in which a group must decide how to negotiate together fairly and equally without prejudice and Drake, and some see The America and the likes of Netflix. also deprived of knowledge which would unbalance the situation - and the so called 'veil of ignorance' theory which Prisoner as anof indirect sequel.

In truth many the broadcasting Charlie Jane Anders also explores in her review on io9.

Here McGoohan plays an agent networks are now showcasing The sub-plot is certainly a mirror of the War Doctor's own activities on Gallifrey. Both feature a Vault full of deadly who is drugged and wakes up in British talent. There is a tendency weapons, both involve making a decision about the future of millions of lives. The Moment is the War Doctor's the “Village” – a to nowmysterious for American audiences conscience, encouraging him to meet his other selves and for each to understand the gravity of what he does. Clara is seemingly idyllic location enjoy British shows ratherwhere than the equivalent, looking upon her Doctor with fresh eyes, particularly when all three Doctors decide to share the the residents are under constant watching native remakes, all responsibility of their actions in destroying the Time Lords and the Daleks. If, as the Moment suggests, the War Doctor surveillance, from which there is things British truly seem to have no escape, and where none of the is reborn then who is he reborn as? How does he deal with the consequences of this holocaust in all his future choices, been embraced, his future lives? And as Clara suggests, which rules apply when regeneration could lead you to forget the traumas of the villagers has a name, only a There is also a needand now for high past? Hence we get that very interesting scene between the three Doctors where generational differences define their number.

Colourful quality and well written dramas attitudes towards the Time War. It's a very interesting view of how we all cope with traumatic, world changing events, provocatively surreal, The and television series, people everything from the assassination of JFK to the terrorism of 9/11. The War Doctor discovers that his future selves are Prisoner touches on eternal have become bored of all theand 'the man who regrets' and 'the man who forgets'. Generations - or regenerations - need to be reminded of these terrible themes such as individuality reality shows that are being aired resistance against authority, and events. After all, it's part of being grown up. and shows made in Britain can despite only running to seventeen The repartee between Tennant, Smith and Hurt crackles vividly and the generational differences are played for comedy offer this for American episodes, thethe series has had an as well as for drama. Hurt's Doctor is distressed ('Am I having a mid-life crisis?') to find his future selves talking and audience.

This influence has been on clearly immeasurable behaving like children. Moffat takes his cue from The Three Doctors here, with Hurt more or less the sterner Hartnell shown by theseries enormous dozens of TV and films in figure quite appalled at 'Sand shoes' and 'Chinny' and we even get a re-run of the redecorating the TARDIS interior gag popularity of Sherlock in the the years since it was broadcast. ('Oh, you've redecorated.' 'I don't like it.'). Like their sonic screwdrivers and their own bodies, the various TARDIS States shown on PBS. Another interiors appear on screen as a phasing, single interface and Hurt's TARDIS is wonderfully old school and comes Steven Miscandlon 2014 consideration is that popular complete with 'the round things'.

British series such as Downton Abbey and Sherlock have relatively short seasons and this perhaps creates a stronger cast with more edge and stronger storylines as more time is available to craft them.

Therefore television Watch theBritish opening sequence programmes are absolutely from The Prisoner in HD on rife in America with audiences YouTube. accepting and enjoying them Read more of Steve Miscandlon’s with huge viewer ratings to prove DVD reviews at this. Television at the end of the www.televisionheaven.co.uk day is there to entertain and it has now been proved that British television made programmes can do so in America.

Karolina

The Zygons, while excellent in the scenes they appear, are merely a means to an end for Moffat. Their attempt to conquer the Earth is simply a mechanism to find the solution to the War Doctor's problem, namely the use of the Gallifreyan art to store the war torn planet and its population in a slice of time. Leaving the Daleks to shoot themselves to pieces as Gallifrey disappears still maintains a certain truth, that they annihilated each other in the War after all, but this is another example of how Moffat is willing to take great chunks of lore (over which there is no ownership, let's be clear) and simply rewrite it for his own purposes. Thus, Russell T Davies' modus operandi for the Doctor, established in 2005, now allows for the potentially lost Time Lords to survive. A reboot along the same lines as Clara jumping back into the many lives of the Doctor to save him, the resetting of time in The Wedding of River Song and travelling back down your own timeline to bring the universe back in The Big Bang. All told in Moffat's customary non-linear, multiple points of view and hanging narrative modes where paradox and predestination dominate the story.

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(continued…)

Teletronic - Spring/Summer Teletronic - April 2014 2014

Who on the Tube Below are links to ‘official’ BBC YouTube clips of Doctor Who

The Night of the Doctor

Behind the scenes of An Adventure in Space and Time

‘the retired curator of the Under Gallery, a man with a very familiar face...’

The War Doctor is transformed, authenticated, legitimised as a 'proper' Doctor because he was 'the Doctor more than anybody else' when he took the brave decision to burn Gallifrey and the Daleks. He takes his place in the line up, the warrior to the Tenth's hero, and in direct line to the Eleventh Doctor who has discovered what he has forgotten. He's always made things better, he's always been a doctor. The title is a promise, a promise that writer Terrance Dicks originally made, that the Doctor is 'never cruel or cowardly'.

A Cult Classic to buy on DVD: House of Cards Trilogy (1990– 1995)

Based on novels by parliamentary insider Michael Dobbs, House of Cards gives us a fascinating, occasionally amusing, and ultimately terrifying insight into the murky inner worlds of British politics.

Conservative Party Chief Whip Francis Urquhart is inimitably brought to life by veteran actor Ian Richardson, presenting us with perhaps the most Machiavellian character ever to appear on British television.

The three series that form the trilogy – House of Cards, To Play the King and The Final Cut – make for irresistible, almost hypnotic viewing.

Steven Miscandlon 2014

Moffat's coup de théâtre for the 50th Anniversary is, of course, the bringing together of 13 Doctors to power the transfer of Gallifrey into the parallel pocket universe. The Time Lords and their TARDISes collectively work together and we get a brief, but thrilling, glimpse of Peter Capaldi who, in a single glare to camera, seems to signify the very hope the Time Lords and viewers of the series are looking for. His imminent arrival, as an actor the same age when Hartnell took the role, may well have triggered Moffat's reflections about maturity and authenticity in the conversations between the other Doctors.

To cap it all we also get a remarkable scene with Matt Smith and Tom Baker. The passing of the baton in many ways, heartfelt and emotional, as the retired curator of the Under Gallery, a man with a very familiar face, pauses to reflect on the future. He catches the spirit of the Anniversary by suggesting to the Doctor he may care to recall some other faces and 'in years to come, you might find yourself revisiting a few but just... the old favourites, eh?

The fourth wall and the Fourth Doctor melt away as the distinctions between Tom and the character vanish. He stands in a gallery that looks like the interior of a TARDIS. It's what we've all known all along. Tom and the Time Lord are interchangeable. Images and words shift and the painting, we discover, is actually called Gallifrey Falls No More.

The Eleventh Doctor is given his quest. To find the lost Gallifrey. 'I can only tell you what I would do, if I were you...

Oh! If I were you... perhaps I was you, of course. Or perhaps you are me,' muses the Fourth Doctor.

Who knows. But the Doctor's going home.

(Frank Collins10 - 2013)

Teletronic - Spring/Summer Teletronic - April 2014

A Cult Classic to buy on DVD:

Red Dwarf – Series I to VIII (1988–1999) Sci-fi and comedy make for strange bedfellows, and very few series that attempt to combine the two genres achieve any measure of success. One of those few exceptions is Red Dwarf. Over its original run, the series changed and morphed, but at its best it was always about the “boys from the Dwarf” – an unlikely crew of misfits comprising irredeemable slob Dave Lister, uptight hologram Arnold Rimmer, the superficial and impossibly vain Cat, fussy android Kryten and various incarnations of the ship’s computer Holly.

The earlier series are arguably the best, but there are many hours of fun to be had from this box set that collects the first eight series of Red Dwarf’s unique brand of outer-space mayhem.

Steven Miscandlon 2014

does British television drama fairly represent today’s multicultural society?

British television writers and directors have been trying to appeal to an audience whose appetite is maturing, craving scenes that reflected their world, their high street and their front rooms. With all the efforts already made it’s a sad state of affairs when you’ve got the likes of Lenny Henry calling for a dedicated fund so that more black, Asian and minority ethnics (BAME) are represented in front of the camera as well as behind it.

As the nation waits for more overt diversification, have the top modern dramas that have been airing across Britain, found unique ways to reflect the nation’s multicultural society?

Hunted by the ominous organisation known as The Network, we whizz through private schools, meet pregnant Russian prostitutes and watch politicians sweat under the pressure of blackmail. The range of characters and who they’re possibly reflective of in our multicultural society is matter too meaty for this article, but safe to say the sci-fi story is carried along smoothly by its diverse cast.

Daniel Kaluuya’s performance as Bing in the second of Brooker’s Black Mirror collection Fifteen Million Merits, presents a dystopian future where consumerism has made cycle slaves out of the working class. Underground Everyone’s got an opinion on what the best modern in what can only be described as a sensory concentration dramas are, but those listers all seem to agree on a few. camp, your level of existence is based on your creation There’s Skins, created by Jamie Brittain and Bryan Elsley and consumption of merits. Earn them by watching the which first screened in January 2007. The series follows heavily advertised porn shows, playing computer games a group of middle class teens as they come of age. They and sweating yourself silly on the same bike day in day dabble with drugs, explore their sexualities, all while out. A Groundhog Day existence, Bing goes to sleep only trying to pass their exams and maintain their faith. The to wake up and do the same things all over again. It’s show’s attempt at reflecting Britain’s multicultural George Orwell’s 1984, reimagined with donations from society in the first few series came in the form of Posh Apple, Windows and Nintendo.

Kenneth (Daniel Kaluuya), a trying-to-be devout Muslim Game show culture within the futuristic drama has taken Anwar Kharral (Dev Patel) and the clarinet playing a bit of a turn and you’ll be a star only if you’re what daughter of a hip-hop star Jal Fazer (Larissa Wilson). those ‘upstairs’ are looking for. Bing’s love interest Abi is The final series made in 2013 wasn’t a visual melting pot chosen for being the closest “pretty one” to hand, while in any way, it did however let us peek in at a number of he gets his spot for being the first “ethnic one” to catch cultures, from the cut throat banking world to the lairs the eye of the institute’s minion. When there are too of drug lords and their scandalous lovers. As an entire many singers saturating the market, there’s always the series this modern drama makes a good attempt at adult entertainment industry. Judge Wraith (Ashley reflecting multicultural society in Britain. The same can Thomas) and Rupert Everett playing Judge Hope on the be said of Luther who’s also present on every list panel, wolf whistle Abi out of her grey trackies and onto detailing the best modern dramas. With cases that take the screen as a sex worker. A not so sly dig at the him all over the grimy streets of London, the show’s entertainment and gameshow industry. creator Neil Cross kills and rescues characters of all Brooker’s Fifteen Million Merits does a great job of shades and backgrounds. looking at consumerism and imagining, albeit darkly on Dark Dystopian Dramas what society could look like without the rich tapestries from the various cultures coming together; superficial Dennis Kelly’s Utopia and Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror and sparkly stuff being handled by grey-garbed human are both amongst critics favourites as modern dramas bots. The multicultural melting pot now includes more that have been brilliantly written to draw our attention ingredients than where you come from, what you look to the darker sides of technology. Utopia aired in like and the food you eat. Whether you’re looking for a January 2013, its heroes a mixed bunch of characters reflection of youth, greed, gang or crime culture; you’ll following a storyline spun around a prophetic comic find British television has aired a modern drama that manuscript. Alexandra Roach plays Becky and her Welsh tells the story impressively. accent curls and contrasts nicely with geeky Londoner Ian’s (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett). The pair are joined by Jessica Hyde (Fiona O’Shaughnessy) the gun wielding, Onome Okwuosa - 2014 leather jacketed Sarah Connor-esque character, 11 year old Grant (Oliver Woollford) a loveable ASBO brat and Wilson Wilson (Adeel Akhtar) another nerd, of the conspiratorial persuasion.

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Teletronic - Spring/Summer 2014 About Josh Turner: “I'm a creative writer of fiction and frequently delight in sharing my musings with others. I like strange worlds and weird dreams that make it from your imagination and onto the page. My words are often fuelled by coffee with equal dollops of joy and sarcasm swirled in. You can find more of my work at http:// alifeofwordsandcoffee.wordpr ess.com/”

Available to purchase from Amazon UK (click the box-set cover to go there)

The Best of British: Ten ’Must See’ Shows

We asked two writers to choose 5 ‘must see’ British television shows. Over the next two pages we present to you 10 Brit shows. Shame on you if you don’t have them! First up - the choice of Josh Turner...

Fawlty Towers: A show so hilariously British that if your friends don’t laugh at it you’re actually allowed to have them shot in the UK. The genius that is John Cleese plays the ever frustrated Basil Fawlty, stomping around catering for guests he loathes in his mismanaged and under staffed hotel, always to catastrophic and comical results. Sadly it only ran for 12 episodes but that almost adds to its charm. Andrew Sachs plays Manuel the endearingly terrible Spanish Waiter and Prunella Scales takes the role of Basil’s long suffering wife. Watch it. Laugh... or else.

Doctor Who: The bastion of Britishness that is Doctor Who. How to sum up a show that ran from 1963 to 1989 only to be reborn in 2005 to great acclaim? Prodigious. Recently celebrating its 50th anniversary episode, which played in cinemas and rose to 3rd in the UK cinema boxoffice weekly chart! As immortal as the title character, it fuses beautifully the elements of child-like glee and family-friendly comedy that makes it suitable for all ages. Never has a show made a child out of more adults. Don’t like one of the lead actors? That’s fine, there are twelve to choose from.

Black Books: I could have filled a list with British comedy but some really stand out.

From the episode when Manny (Bill Bailey) drinks too much coffee and spirals into a series of events that ends up with him mistaken for a police officer to the dinner party where our lead, Bernard (Dylan Moran), has to reconstruct from a patchy memory the drunken damage he’s caused; Black Books is a leg slapping dance of hilarious delight.

Britain seems to like the loveable arse, and none are more loveable or arsey than the beautifully portrayed Bernard.

Unreported World: What’s this, a factual show on a best of list? Honestly, watch it and you will see why.

This is investigative journalism at its best. Often harrowing, the stories of Afghan child drug addicts whose parents provide them heroin to mute the hunger pangs because it’s cheaper than food, it can also be uplifting, like the story of a Mogadishu chef who refuses to leave his country despite threats on his life because he wants to make something better.

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With 24 seasons under its belt you can still rely on amazing stories that don’t pull punches.

Planet Earth: Arguably the finest work involving the great British institution that is David Attenborough. Using advances in camera technology and the reliable allure of Attenborough’s soothing tones to provide a look at the natural world that is second to none. The story of the cameraman who spent months in a brick bothy, staring at the grey slopes of a mountain just waiting for an elusive glimpse of a snow leopard really highlights the lengths the producers were willing to go. There are some amazing moments; the wild beauty of a wolf chasing a caribou over 10km, a time-lapse of Autumnal colours swallowing North America, and aerial shots of Angel Falls to name but a few.

Supremely watchable.

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Teletronic - Spring/Summer 2014 Teletronic - Mar 2014 Derek Thompson writes fiction, non-fiction and comedy. He made us write the last bit.

The Best of British: Ten ’Must See’ Shows Derek Thompson selects his choice of five ‘must see’ British TV shows.

His creative blog lives at www.alongthewritelines.blogs pot.co.uk His mini ebook, Man Up!, is available at http:// www.amazon.co.uk/dp/ B00IJXAERY

The Sweeney : A much-loved cops and robbers series that was rough around the edges and all the better for it. It reflected the 'Lundun' I could identify with, growing up. In The Sweeney, you had car chases with Fords, tracking shots of a gasworks, punchy dialogue and even punchier police officers. No martial arts in the fight scenes, just proper fisticuffs and a sort of earnest chaos whenever the rozzers caught up with the blaggers. There was great chemistry between Jack Regan and his oppo, George Carter. The theme music got the blood pumping and the action didn't stop until the strangely wistful closing titles ended. Yes, it's of its time, but it has a style that endures.

One thing I do remember (correct me if I'm wrong here) is that the bad guys sometimes got away with it, and Jack's activities were sometimes curtailed by politics. How thoroughly modern!

Robin of Sherwood: You want a Robin Hood to make Richard Greene envious? Forget Kevin Costner, Russell Crowe and that BBC series. Travel back to the 1980s and experience the magic and myth of Richard Carpenter's creation (he also did Black Beauty and Catweazle, among others). This Robin has a mythical backstory, a Maid Marion that would straighten any bow and an original take on a classic tale. Forever fused with Clannad's evocative music for the series (my other half and I still have our own albums), RoS added to the mythos by including a shaman, known as Herne the Hunter, more magic than you could shake a staff at, and a Saracen who joins the gang (copied afterwards, but we won't talk about it here).

The Merry men are young, rebellious and not that merry. And if all that isn't enough for you, there's Ray Winstone as Will Scarlet. Nuff said?.

Spaced: To be honest, I could just read you out the main cast: Simon Pegg, Jessica Hynes, Nick Frost and Mark Heap. But there's so much more to it than that; there are robots, a stolen tank, comics, a very British romance, paintball, Bill Bailey and Peter Serafinowcz. Here's a one-line synopsis that in no way does Spaced justice: Two people pretend to be a couple to get a flat and the rest is sheer...magic. This is a sitcom that talks up to its loyal viewers with a slew of cinematic references throughout both series. In essence, you have several shades of loveable loser (you'll root for them, trust me) along with a teasing 'will they or won't they' thread that's guaranteed to keep you hooked. Special mention has to go to Mark Heap for his tour-deforce performance as a tortured artist. Plus, in case you didn't know it, Spaced is the foster parent of the cult film (starring Messrs. Pegg & Frost), Shaun of the Dead. Oh yeah, and there's a dog called Colin in it - the series I mean, not the film.

Vera: This programme is the closest detective series we have to Nordic Noir. The wild and sometimes desolate landscape of Northumberland is both feature and metaphor, as DCI Vera Stanhope (Brenda Blethyn) stomps about, giving rich meaning to the words frumpy, antisocial and sharp. She's a wondrous mixture of the shambolic and the insightful, with all the people skills of a chocoholic on early closing day. Her entire team tiptoes around her and even DS Joe Ashworth (David Leon), her sidekick, calls her Mussolini behind her back. Despite all that, or maybe because of it, you cheer her on, through a series of twisting plots. Because, when it comes down to it, she's like the long-lost cousin of Columbo combined with the sort of British copper we can actually believe in. Does she get the villains? What do you think!

Ever Decreasing Circles: While not as well-known (or appreciated) as The Good Life, this other Richard Briers sitcom is still a gem and much more subtle. On the face of it, pillar-of-the-community man, Martin, has everything - a lovely (if woefully neglected) wife, Anne, social standing

and suburban certainty. That is, until his new neighbour turns out to be a champion of one-upmanship and all of it done with a smile. Three things lift this beautifully observed comedy of manners: 1.

Martin, the lead character, doesn't get the joke. Ever. Which is unfortunate as he's usually the butt of it.

2.

The series is devoid of cruelty (ah, those were the days...). Everyone, in Martin's world, at some point, is beset by human frailty.

3. top.

It's great to see an ensemble cast fitting together, and a leading actor who doesn't need to come out on

There's a lovely conclusion to the series as well, but you'll have to watch to find out what it is.

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Teletronic - Spring/Summer 2014 Teletronic - Mar 2014 A Cult Classic to buy on DVD: Sherlock Holmes – The Complete Collection (1984– 1994)

Recent years have seen a number of updated versions of Conan Doyle’s iconic character, from Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock to Jonny Lee Miller’s Elementary and Robert Downey Jr.’s theatrical take on Holmes. But to a generation of British TV viewers, Jeremy Brett was and remains the definitive Sherlock Holmes. Over the course of thirty-six hour-long episodes and five featurelength specials, Brett brought us a pitch-perfect depiction of the quick-witted but irascible Victorian gentleman genius.

With impeccable production values and a solid supporting cast, this version of Sherlock Holmes is perhaps the most faithful to the original stories.

Steven Miscandlon 2014

Cops on the Box - The history of the British Police Drama

In the 1950/51 Television Annual chapter entitled Real Life in Pictures, the article writer explains the production of what at that time was still a relatively new addition to the TV schedules; the documentary film. "The outside television camera has so far made only a small contribution to television documentary programmes.

These programmes have more often than not emanated from inside the Alexandra Palace studio. Rather than being a realistic portrayal, the television documentary programme looks as though it is going to be a carefully produced artistic interpretation, with actors and actresses taking the place of the people actually concerned. It was found out early on in television that it requires the art of the trained actor to give a realistic impression of ordinary people going about their everyday business." By the following year, the same annual publication recorded in the chapter Seeing Facts; "Not many (documentaries) are produced in one year. For some time those which were produced stuck rather to one field of life: crime, its detection, and the workings of justice in the courts."

The idea of scripted drama presented as documentary was not a new one in the early fifties, nor did it start on television. A perfect example is Humphrey Jennings' 1943 production 'Fires Were Started' a Ministry of Home Security backed propaganda film made to boost morale and show the courageous work of the fire service in bomb blitzed London. According to Derek Malcolm in the Guardian: "In other hands, ('Fire Were Started') would have been mere propaganda made to stiffen the national mood. But in his, the images of Britain were often so powerful and so moving that people would be in tears watching them."

show'. In her book 'Beyond Dixon of Dock Green' author Susan Sydney-Smith notes: "In terms of mapping the evolution of the story-documentary, a significant entry in Radio Times (1948) lists a separate item within (the fortnightly magazine programme) Kaleidoscope. It describes itself as 'a story-documentary, written in cooperation with Scotland Yard, to explain some of the ingenious frauds that have recently been worked on the unwary.' It's Your Money They're After, earlier produced on radio, was a dramatised reconstruction concerning post-war fraudsters." According to Sydney-Smith "Scotland Yard and crime were a prime source for institutional dramatised reconstructions, combining popularity with moral instruction, and from which grew the ordinary, British television police series."

It was still early days for television with the BBC only having been back on the air for three years having closed down television broadcasting at the outbreak of the Second World War, and the move from docu-drama towards full dramatisation would be a gradual one. One of the first crime series on British television was War on Crime a 1950 six-part docu-drama produced by Robert Barr and written by Guy Morgan and Percy Hoskins.

The idea for the series came about when Morgan was conducting research at Scotland Yard for a Twentieth Century Fox film, and realised the potentially dramatic material that was available in the Metropolitan Police's crime files. He discussed the idea with Barr, and they enlisted Hoskins, a former crime reporter for the Daily Express, who was on good terms with a number of senior police officers. The first episode, 'Gold Thieves', recounted the true story of a bullion robbery in 1948 at Heathrow Airport, where thieves tried to steal gold bullion to the value of a quarter of a million pounds, but were ambushed by officers. The second story, 'Woman Unknown', was introduced, like all the others in the series, by a voice-over. In this case, it told viewers: "This is the story of a murder. A murder, apparently, without a clue. Unpremeditated and followed by meticulous skill in concealment, the detection of which, for sheer tenacity and perseverance, has few equals in the records of Scotland Yard." Having set the scene, the story then unfolds in dramatised format, using actors to show the Although these dramatised reconstructions were a far original police investigation in the case of a woman's cry from the type of scripted fictional drama that Elstree body, washed up in a London canal, and how they go or Hollywood were producing at that time, or the type of through the processes of identification, the means of drama series that became popular on our screens by the finding out how she died, and by whose hands. The late 1950s and early 1960s it will soon be seen how they murder, for petty theft, of an Oxford widow, was influenced the emergence of one of the most popular reconstructed to show how the culprit was finally genres of television drama: The police procedural or 'cop brought to justice entirely by circumstantial evidence.

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Teletronic - Spring/Summer 2014 Teletronic - Mar 2014 A Cult Classic to buy on DVD: Edge of Darkness (1985)

Edge of Darkness demonstrates the quirky, cult nature of British TV at its best. This unique six-episode series was an massive success, winning BAFTA awards for Best Drama Series, Best Actor (a sublime performance by Bob Peck) and Best Original TV Music (for its distinctive and haunting score by Michael Kamen and Eric Clapton). For all the popular acclaim it received, Edge of Darkness couldn’t be further from safe, mainstream programming – the storyline’s focus veering from corruption in business, government and trade unions, through international espionage, nuclear energy and ecological topics, to the main character’s ongoing conversations with the spirit of his recently murdered daughter. It may not always be comfortable viewing, but Edge of Darkness is a bona fide TV classic quite unlike anything before or since.

Steven Miscandlon 2014

Another programme in the series revealed the use of pathology in crime detection, and was based on the real facts behind a number of sensational murder arrests, including that of John George Haigh, the acid-bath murderer. As the Television Annual 1950/51 recorded: "In all programmes viewers saw the criminals and their confederates; their victims; the police, the star detectives from Scotland Yard-all characterized by actors and actresses. Not one real-life policeman or Scotland Yard official ever appeared on screen." This was, to all intents and purposes a scripted drama series that had little to do with the term documentary as we would understand it today. Each programme was introduced with the caption War on Crime with a flashing light atop a police box, rising behind it, and a policeman walking by the box. War on Crime was broadcast monthly, and its influence can be clearly understood on police procedural series' that followed it in the 1950s and beyond.

The next police based docu-drama, produced by the BBC the following year was I Made News, a landmark TV series for the BBC in several respects. Firstly, it was the first time that directors had been used in television.

Previously on both radio and television the accepted format was for writer-producers to direct their own shows. One of the criticisms of War on Crime was that as it was only shown monthly - it failed to build up any audience loyalty. As a result, producer Robert Barr was given the job of setting up a production unit capable of turning out weekly dramas of the type that were then being produced in America.

I Made News was to be the case study for this new production process, turning out 12 weekly half-hour docu-dramas. Due to its experimental nature, I Made News was more concerned with quantity than quality, a move that proved to be quite controversial within the BBC itself. Critics too, appeared to be divided. The News of the World commented: "I Made News has only occasionally made good television. As the creator of 'Raffles' may not have said, there's no police like Holmes." The series centred round criminal investigations but didn't restrict itself to the British police force. Some episodes were set in Holland, others involved the FBI and the leading investigator from those cases were invited to top and tail the story that had been told like War on Crime, in dramatic reconstruction. The face of the Metropolitan Police was Robert Fabian whose exploits would later form the BBC series Fabian of Scotland Yard (aka Fabian of the Yard). Susan SydneySmith writes that I Made News "both increased production and considerably enhanced the BBC's ability to compete with the arrival of Independent Television."

Building on the experience gained on I Made the News, the BBC produced another six-part series, in 1952, called Pilgrim Street. This series, made in co-operation with Scotland Yard, contained many of the elements that would eventually be employed in the BBC's best remembered police series; Dixon of Dock Green. Pilgrim Street was made once again by the BBC documentary department. The difference was, where War on Crime and I Made News focused on high-profile cases and were centred round the Criminal Investigation Department officers of Scotland Yard, Pilgrim Street was the first of these docu-dramas to revolve around the work of policemen at a suburban police station, and to feature cases, as the Radio Times of 1952 reported, that "never find their way into the pages of the Commissioner's Report and in which the police act as helpers and protectors of the public."

The fictitious Pilgrim Street police station was, however, just a stones-throw from Scotland Yard as the opening narrative indicated: "Our manor - our ground. It's as varied as anything in London. The railway station is in the centre there, and around it are cinemas, the shopping streets, the wharehouses, the pubs, the pawnbrokers, and the little streets. Up here, luxury flats, spacious squares and gardens, and embassies. Skirting it all, the Embankment and the river. That's our ground. Our Manor. And right here is our station: Pilgrim Street." The series was originally to have been called The Blue Lamp, however BBC bosses were concerned about using a title already used by the cinema for a feature film, even though the film was undoubtedly the inspiration for this television version. Clearly producer Robert Barr was hoping the short run (Pilgrim Street ran from June to July and was produced at the newly acquired Lime Grove studios) would give rise to a long running series.

However, critical reaction and lack of support from his boss, Cecil McGivern, put paid the that idea. One critic described Pilgrim Street as "ordinary to the point of dullness." Nonetheless, Pilgrim Street is an important programme in the development of the British TV police procedural drama genre being the first steps towards a series featuring the exploits of 'an ordinary copper.'

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Teletronic - Spring/Summer 2014 Teletronic - Mar 2014 A Classic series buy on DVD

One of the longest running police series on British television between 1955 and 1976, Dixon of Dock Green was also the best-loved.

Starring the popular Jack Warner in the role of Sergeant George Dixon, the series set the tone for television police drama and paved the way for all that would follow. Filmed on set and on location around the fast disappearing dockland community of London's East End, the character of Dixon, with his friendly and informal Evening all, offered viewers the kind of policeman you d be tempted to welcome into your home for a cup of tea even if you d just robbed a bank.

There are two collections currently available from the BBC that can be purchased from Amazon UK

That 'ordinary copper' first appeared not on our television screen but in the cinema. Released in early 1950, The Blue Lamp featured Jack Warner as police constable George Dixon. Scripted by ex-policeman T.E.B. Clarke (from a story by Ted Willis and Jan Read), at the outset the film is similar in style and presentation to Fires Were Started. Opening in documentary style, the viewer is introduced to a policeman's lot through the eyes of new recruit Andy Mitchell (actor Jimmy Handley) as he begins his first shift at Paddington Green. Writer Guy Savage observes how "The Blue Lamp finds London police directing traffic, giving directions, finding lost dogs, and even singing in the police choir. The grossest sin committed by the police at the Paddington Green station is a tendency to park themselves in the police cafeteria and drink a few too many cups of tea."

Dixon who would become an iconic figure in the later Dixon of Dock Green TV series. ’Fabian’ was made for export and several episodes were never actually transmitted in the UK. London's familiar landmarks were used in a somewhat travelogue style and, being shot on film rather than live in the studio like many contemporary BBC shows, the Corporation had much more freedom in broadcasting it at different times of the week. Originally shown on Saturday night it later moved to Wednesday evenings with a repeat on weekday afternoons. Susan Sydney-Smith observes: "The series represents an interesting crossover point in terms of the generic development of the television series' truth status in terms of its progressive narrativisation, from fact to fiction: whilst the story is true, the characters are fictitious in that they are played by actors."

Fabian - real and fictitious Fabian of the Yard was the last BBC series to adopt the Having established the day-to-day life of the ordinary docu-drama approach to police shows and in 1955 the copper the film then shifts to more serious matters and genre went to fully scripted drama with Dixon of Dock it's at this point it stops being mere documentary and Green, the TV series inspired by The Blue Lamp but becomes what we have now come to know as docuowing as much to Pilgrim Street. Debuting with 'PC drama, with more of an emphasis on the drama. Guy Crawford's First Pinch', the series begins the same way as Savage sees a materialisation of the films darker the film. Instead of Andy Mitchell's first day on the beat overtones when he writes: "The film carefully laces the the now 'resurrected from the dead' George Dixon found action with the lurking shadow of WWII--one woman himself mentoring new recruit Andy Crawford. However, arrives at the police station to file a lost ration card report, and in another scene, street urchins play amidst a in spite of the film's success the television debut of Dixon bombed-out London street. The film argues that the social left both viewers and critics decidedly unimpressed.

Comments on the first programme included 'tame', upheaval of WWII has fermented an environment which 'humdrum' and 'lacking any action.' However, by the sixth fosters the emergence of delinquents." week the BBC's audience appreciation report indicated It is one such delinquent, set on a life of crime, that has that the series was winning viewers over very quickly the biggest impact. When George Dixon is gunned down with a 49% increase from week one. By 1957 the Radio by the young criminal played by Dirk Bogarde. Dixon’s Times was reporting that Dixon of Dock Green had been shooting is shocking and unexpected. Fifty years on, it's mentioned in the House of Commons and was hard to appreciate just how shocking it was considered responsible for an increase in those applying to join the

by British audiences. And because of it The Blue Lamp is police. In the end the programme ran for 21 years and as a seminal film in the history of British cinema. It is no Susan Sydney-Smith noted: (Dixon of Dock Green) surprise that the dramatic aspects of the story were more "..introduced new, increasingly rationalised methods of prominent in The Blue Lamp than previous working" in television and introduced the terminology documentaries. In 1951 the Central Office of Information, whereby a single series run is known as 'a season'. With established in 1946 as the successor to the wartime the success of Dixon of Dock Green police procedural Ministry of Information, was closed. There would be no serials began to appear on television with great more 'public information' films in the cinema, but regularity. 1961's Jacks and Knaves paved the way for television would borrow from the genre for a few more regional crime series' rather than them being based years. solely in London.

The first ever British made filmed series, shot in 1954 by Trinity Productions for the BBC and consisting of 39 black and white episodes, Fabian of Scotland Yard has been described as Britain's first generation of the TV detective.

To give it credibility, the series was (once again) based on real crimes, or stories from police files from Scotland Yard and in particular (or so it was alleged) on the investigations of former celebrated Yard detective Robert Fabian. Fabian was played in each episode by Bruce Seton but the real-life Fabian turned up at the end of each episode to round it off similar in style to George

The scripted crime shows that we watch on our TV's today owe much to television's early uncertainty, experimentation and innovation and a combination of styles which were forged in the 1950s and reached fruition in the 1960s. And since then, the genre which is arguably the most durable of them all, has continued to develop and will no doubt continue to do so.

Laurence Marcus - 2014 Link:(http://www.noiroftheweek.com/2011/07/blue-lamp-1950.html Guy Savage )

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Teletronic - Spring/Summer 2014 Teletronic - Mar 2014

Corrie - The Changing Face of the Cobbles

by Amanda Thomas

Over the years there has been blood and just about every other bodily fluid on the cobbles of Coronation Street. It has come a long way since it started in 1960 as a story about hard working Northern folk. At that time it was very much a trendsetter and an innovation in the new genre of Soap The Coronation Street Golden Anniversary Collection is available from Amazon UK. The complete Coronation Street anthology, featuring all the pinnacle moments of life on the cobbles. The ultimate collector's box set, celebrating the past 50 years on Coronation Street, this very special box set includes the following programmes: The Stars of the Street--50 Classic Characters, the very first episode, 30 other key and ground-breaking episodes featuring familiar faces young and old, including the most memorable episode when Prince Charles was on set, six Coronation Street family albums, Corrie Controversies, eight special programmes focusing on different families and events central to the past 50 years and The Street Undressed.

Click on the box cover to purchase directly and have it delivered to your door in a day.

Opera’s that many of us have come to rely on for our entertainment.

For twenty years Corrie had the stage to itself and concentrated on its trademark stories of the every day life of working class folk. The biggest changes to ‘The Street’ came as a result of the introduction of other soaps such as Ch 4’s Brookside in 1982 and the introduction of EastEnders, the BBC’s prime time offering, three years later.

Now the soap suds were being frothed up with gritty story lines from Corrie’s rivals and the old cobbled favourite regularly saw itself being washed out in the ratings war. Where rival soaps touched on current and often controversial topics Corrie was seen as old fashioned and behind the times.

Towards the end of the 80’s major changes were made on the cobbled streets with everything from the set and production techniques being overhauled. Old Corrie dependables like Deidre Barlow scandalised audiences by having an affair with Mike Baldwin while Rita Fairclough suffered psychological abuse at the hands of Alan Bradley who got his comeuppance under the wheels of a Blackpool tram. There was a fire at the Rovers and to end the decade the murder of Brian Tilsley.

Corrie had thrown down the gauntlet.

Criticism, however, followed Coronation Street into the 1990’s and this time it was for the fact that it was not representative of ethnic minorities. Nevertheless it was not until the end of the decade that the first regular ethnic family, the Desai’s, appeared on the street. Nowadays there is a natural mix of ethnic groups on Corrie that adds to the realism, especially given that it is set in Manchester a city that has a wide diversity of culture.

These days there is no doubt that the storylines that enthral us on Corrie are often more typical of the problems that people encounter in every day life. In one storyline Haley Cropper died of pancreatic cancer, and there are storylines involving gay and lesbian characters and the endless affairs of the different men and women whom we invite into our homes regularly. The fight for ratings goes on between Coronation Street and EastEnders and Yorkshire Dales offering, Emmerdale as well as newcomers like Hollyoaks. But for all that Coronation Street is the longest running soap on our screens with storylines that embrace the youngest to the oldest of the street’s characters and with more excitement and intrigue than any self-respecting soap addict could shake a stick at.

Now as we look forward to what our soap characters will get up to next, there is no doubt that Corrie will still have its loyal viewers tuning in for their five episode a week fix. Far from entertainment cobbled together we hope it will be Corrie cobbles forever!

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Teletronic - Spring/Summer 2014 About the writer of this article: Onome Okwuosa is an experienced and dedicated Journalist/Writer/Blogger/Copy writer/Editor/Proof reader and Author with over 5 years of experience spent in the industry. From her published articles you will see that Onome creates engaging and compelling articles that show a true passion for the subject matter - no matter the subject.

The dark places technology can take a nation The best of dystopian dramas: Black Mirror and Utopia by Onome Okwuosa

Visit Onome's blog at http:// onomeokwuosa.wordpress.com /author/onomeokwuosa/ The future’s on its way and according to the Black Mirror series and the first season of Utopia, she doesn’t look too pretty. Satirical and dark they’ve topped every ‘Best Of’ list for modern dramas and it’s easy to see why. Both the Black Mirror collection and Utopia offer clever takes on the dark places technology can take a nation without it resulting in a crapsack wasteland where everyone’s scavenging for food and resources.

Utopia -The future’s already here

Utopia and Black Mirror are available from Amazon Uk (click either of the DVD covers to be directed to Amazon.uk.uk

Dennis Kelly, best known for his part in creating and writing the hit comedy series Pulling with Sharon Horgan, sends an unlikely band of merry men, women and children on the run from the ominous organisation, known only as The Network.

A misfit group of comic book enthusiasts who meet in an online chat group decide to get together to discuss the second instalment of the comic when everything goes haywire. A member of their group is murdered by a pair of psychotic assassins and it’s up to the rest of them to unravel the secrets within the manuscript and how on earth they’re going to stay alive.

The Network have their finger in every pie; politics, food production, science - basically all the places where you’d want the nice, wholesome folk to be signing on the dotted line before it hits the shelves.

Instead, they’re hiding the truth, manipulating CCTV footage so no one can trust that they actually know anything. Touching on genocide, disease manufacturing and nuclear warfare veiled as natural disasters, the series points a finger at the world around us and dares the viewer to have an opinion.

The interwoven storylines tumble over each other effortlessly, and the characters and all that they represent do an amazing job of powering the drama forward. Kelly doesn’t mind turning school girls into killers when it’s in the name of revenge. He’ll no doubt have you feeling sorry for Grant (Oliver Woollford) the eleven year old poo-palming ASBO. Sure the little guy’s not the sweetest thing but no one deserves to be framed for mass murder. He turns nearly the whole cast and what they stand for on their heads by dragging them through the scenes of this dark drama.

Ian, the loveable geek played by Nathan StewartJarett is soon the opposite of his former self. Take away Ian’s family and all that he once loved and yup, he’ll become a gun toting ready to torture kinda guy. Alexandra Roach playing the fierce, cold hearted Becky with a warm-ish heart is impressive alongside Fiona O’Shaughnessy, who tackles the ‘hardened by a life of murder’ Jessica Hyde character with ease.

It’s Arby the lumbering oaf that’ll have your neurons tingling throughout the series, is he a bad acting goodie or good intentioned bad guy? Bred like Jessica for the life of murder, how do you hate on the guy who just wants to get to know his daddy, even if it is one bullet at a time? Breaking and entering, kidnapping and eye plucking all set in modern day London makes this dark drama a dystopian nightmare.

(continued…)

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Teletronic - Spring/Summer 2014 A Cult Classic to buy on DVD:

Ghostwatch (1992)

On Halloween night in 1992, the BBC broadcast a one-off supernatural drama as part of its Screen One series. Presented as a live investigation into a supposedly haunted suburban London house, Ghostwatch used familiar real-life TV presenters including Michael Parkinson, Sarah Greene and Mike Smith to lull viewers into a false sense of security as the story crept towards a terrifying and uncompromising conclusion. Although billed as a drama (penned by Stephen Volk, who would later write the critically acclaimed series Afterlife) many viewers were fooled into thinking they were watching actual events, and there was much furore and discussion in the days following about the Ghostwatch “hoax”. To this day, the programme has never been repeated by the BBC. Steven Miscandlon 2014

‘Taking a stab at where bio-technology and its capabilities will be heading’

Black Mirror - Our dark reflections?

Charlie Brooker carries on with the dreaded ‘dystopian future is already here’ with the first instalment of his Black Mirror series, National Anthem. When a member of the royal family is kidnapped the Prime Minister (Rory Kinnear) is called on to be a national hero. Only to save her life, he has to get his love on with a pig live for the world to see. It’s a ‘would you rather’ of epic proportions and a brilliant way to set the ball rolling for the series.

Taking a stab at where bio-technology and its capabilities will be heading is what Jesse Armstrong and Charlie Brooker attempt in The Entire History Of You. Dumbledore’s Pensieve meets Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind with the Grain, a chip that gets inserted on the brain’s hard drive. Things take a turn for the worst when cheating and slimy exes rear their ugly heads. Liam (Toby Kebbell) is turned into a heart-crushed sleuth, hunting through his wife’s mind to unearth the truth and looking in his own to salve his painful memories. An emotional reflection on how there is such a thing as having too much on the brain.

Be Right Back sees Ash (Domhnall Gleeson) killed in a tragic car accident, leaving his wife Martha (Hayley Atwell) to piece together her broken heart.

Put onto a service that takes Ash’s social networking activity, adds a few tweaks and algorithms and Martha gets a not quite artificially intelligent rendition of her husband. Is it ethical reincarnation or questionable robotics? When the Ash-bot stops being the emotional band aid Martha needs, she turns into a plotting widow/wife leading to tears at cliff edges and all sorts.

The Black Mirror series will keep you captivated through every episode in much the same way Utopia did as it casts a shade on desire; getting what you want only to wish you’d never asked for it.

As both of the dystopian dramas are set to add to their instant cult classics this year, eager fans might want to remind themselves of just how good they were.

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Teletronic - Spring/Summer 2014 It’s The Brits in America

It is now a fact that British television has become extremely popular with American audiences. There are many British television shows screened in the states including the likes of Downton Abbey, Sherlock, Doctor Who and Luther, but the question we have to ask is why they are popular and why are so many being screened? Is it because they are perceived as being ‘different’ and therefore a novelty or is it something much deeper, in that the shows are of a higher quality with better scripts and acting?

Many all of these are right to assume, one thing is for sure though and that is Americans love British television.

Many television shows originating in Britain have had a significant impact in America and one of them is Downton Abbey, originally aired on ITV in Britain, Americans can now enjoy this programme over on PBS. The appeal of Downton Abbey most probably is due to the fact that it is a period drama and deals with the British aristocracy. Coupled with this is the fantastic writing of Julian Fellows and a stellar cast led by Maggie Smith so you are onto a winner to begin with.

Many of the popular British programmes are also incredibly passionate and tell a well written story, you only have to look at Doctor Who, the longest running Science Fiction programme in television’s history to realise that this is why the Americans love it so much, it is a universal story. You will also get the whole family to sit down together to watch it, something of a rarity these days.

DISNEYLAND: HOW WALT DISNEY MARRIED THE ENEMY

By Mike Spadoni In the late 1940's and the early 1950's, the fastgrowing medium of television had a mortal enemy: The movie studios. Week after week, month after month, year after year, studio executives watched box office receipts drop as more Americans bought those funny-looking boxes with the wires and tubes, and sat down to watch every night. Television was dismissed as a “fad” in the early years; the studio heads were confident people would head back to the local theatres. They didn’t.

Slowly, very slowly, the studios started to make tentative moves toward peace with the opposition.

Some of the smaller studios began producing shows for television; others leased or sold their film libraries to local stations. But it would take Walt Disney to show the industry that television could benefit from a little movie magic–and vice versa.

He realized that television could provide the answer.

A successful series could add new revenues to the company and allow him to build his complex. Disney went to NBC first, and proposed a series in exchange for financial help on the amusement park. NBC said no. CBS was approached next; another rejection.

Finally, Disney went hat in hand to Leonard Goldenson, whose United Paramount Theaters chain had just merged with the perennial also-ran American Broadcasting Company. The UPT-ABC marriage did create a stronger company, but ABC was clearly a weak third in television–ahead of the soon-to-depart DuMont Television Network, but far behind CBS and NBC in viewers and affiliates that could carry its programmes.

By early 1954, ABC had no series among the top 25 programmes, and less than two dozen primary Disney’s studio was not one of the biggest at the affiliates; stations affiliated with one of the other time (its films were distributed by the now defunct networks carried ABC’s line-up as an afterthought.

RKO), but he was among the first studio heads to see But Disney’s overtures came at the right time: the potential of television. In 1950, Disney created a Goldenson’s background in film made him realize holiday special for NBC called One Hour In that it didn’t matter if a show was broadcast live or Wonderland, which used plenty of Disney footage on film; if people liked it, they would watch. And he from his various animated features. It was a hit and knew a series with the Disney name would be an all of the networks wanted Disney to create a weekly instant draw for families. A deal was struck, where series for them.

ABC would buy 20 episodes of the new Disney show, in exchange for 35 percent ownership of the By this time, Disney was obsessed with the creation amusement park. (Goldenson also agreed to pay of his dream amusement complex, where parents $500 thousand dollars to Disney; and helped secure and children could enjoy themselves together. After additional funding by guaranteeing Disney’s bank years of studying the idea, visiting other complexes loans.) around the world, and endless research, Disney purchased 160 acres of orange groves and walnut Although 20 episodes was a small number compared trees in Anaheim, California, a quiet community in with the 39 episodes most series produced in a Orange County, just south of Los Angeles. But while season, the Disney crew was determined to create his new amusement park was taking shape, the new material for the television show–in addition to company was expanding into live action films and using the many cartoons and other material from other ventures. Soon, it became apparent that the studio’s archives.

Disney would need help to finance his dream park.

continued...

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Teletronic - Spring/Summer 2014 It’s The Brits in America (continued) This then leads us on to considering how BBC America has revolutionised American television and in turn has had a great influence upon how Americans view television with the massive influx of British programmes. BBC America state on their website that they offer the best in British entertainment and you can’t really argue with this when they broadcast Doctor Who. In the 1960s British television invaded America and the same is happening today with the introduction of both BBC America and the likes of Netflix. In truth many of the broadcasting networks are now showcasing British talent. There is a tendency now for American audiences to enjoy British shows rather than watching native remakes, all things British truly seem to have been embraced, There is also a need now for high quality and well written dramas and television series, people have become bored of all the reality shows that are being aired and shows made in Britain can offer this for the American audience. This has been clearly shown by the enormous popularity of Sherlock in the States shown on PBS. Another consideration is that popular British series such as Downton Abbey and Sherlock have relatively short seasons and this perhaps creates a stronger cast with more edge and stronger storylines as more time is available to craft them.

Therefore British television programmes are absolutely rife in America with audiences accepting and enjoying them with huge viewer ratings to prove this.

Television at the end of the day is there to entertain and it has now been proved that British television made programmes can do so in America.

Karolina Wage - 2014

‘Executives believed the kids would not only control viewing for the “family hour,” but would fight mom and dad if they wanted to switch the channel’ ABC quickly found multiple sponsors for the new show, to be called Disneyland: It secured familyfriendly advertisers such as Swift Foods, Peter Pan Peanut Butter, the American Dairy Association–and the newly formed American Motors, which built Nash, Hudson and Rambler cars and Kelvinator appliances. ABC was also clever in scheduling Disneyland. At the time, most network programmes started at 8:00 PM; the 7:30-8:00 half-hour was filled mostly with news programmes and 15-minute variety shows by such artists as Perry Como. ABC decided to start Disneyland at 7:30 PM on Wednesday nights, to get a jump on the other networks. Executives believed the kids would not only control viewing for the “family hour,” but would fight mom and dad if they wanted to switch the channel to CBS’ Arthur Godfrey And His Friends or NBC’s I Married Joan in the middle of Disneyland.

The critics gushed over Disneyland (“It’s here and it’s wonderful!” wrote one pundit) but more importantly, the kids watched. Disneyland immediately gave ABC its first top ten series since the early seasons of The Lone Ranger. What’s more, CBS and NBC affiliates in cities that had no ABC station carried Disneyland. Arthur Godfrey’s former top ten programme started sliding in the ratings, while I Married Joan was cancelled in 1955.

Meanwhile, Disneyland would hit another peak on December 15th, 1954, when it aired the first instalment of a somewhat sanitized version of the life and times of frontiersman, soldier and politician Davy Crockett. With a young actor named Fess Parker in the title role, and a pre- Beverly Hillbillies Buddy Ebsen as his friend George Russel, Davy Crockett Indian Fighter was a smash hit. Two more instalments aired in January and February 1955: On October 27th, 1954, ABC aired the first episode Davy Crockett Goes To Congress and Davy Crockett of Disneyland – which was called The Disneyland at the Alamo. (Historians say Crockett died in the Story, as Walt Disney provided viewers with an Battle of the Alamo in 1835; the Disney version overview of his new amusement park (which was showed the soldier going to battle but did not hint of under construction) and the various “lands” within the outcome.) In any case, the Crockett programmes the park (“Fantasyland,” “Adventureland,” spawned a massive demand for coonskin caps in “Tomorrowland” and “Frontierland”) – which all both the US and the UK; the show’s theme song “The happened to be the segments making up the new Ballad of Davy Crockett” was recorded by several Disneyland series. It was one of the first examples of different artists (Fess Parker among them); three of what would be called “synergy” - one medium the versions hit the U.S. Top Ten. And in a move that promoting another, and vice versa. The television generated additional profits for the studio, Disney show sparked interest in the theme park, and the edited the three Davy Crockett shows into a park would help promote the weekly series. It also theatrical movie that was released worldwide. served as a platform to promote Disney’s upcoming Because only 20 episodes of Disneyland were theatrical films; a “documentary” on the filming of produced for the initial 1954-55 season, ABC filled the movie 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea helped out the 52-week television season by immediately boost attendance and earned Disney’s first-ever repeating all 20 shows, then chose the 13 best to air Emmy award. (Today, the “documentary” would be a third time. Surprisingly, the Davy Crockett episodes known as an “infomercial”.) actually rose in the ratings, and the repeats didn’t do much worse than the original shows–proving the viability of reruns.

continued...

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Teletronic - Spring/Summer 2014 About writer of this article: Mike Spadoni began as a news reporter/writer in Las Vegas and was promoted to chief position in 2004. He was responsible for gathering and writing news for morning and mid-day distribution to member stations.

He has been writing for Television Heaven for over a decade now and his knowledge of US television programmes, the people behind it and US TV history is informative, educational and is delivered in an easy to read, pleasing style which is enjoyed by thousands of site visitors each month.

He regularly kept visitors up to date with the latest US TV news in his column ‘Mike Spadoni’s View from America’ for many years.

Mike is an important part of the Television Heaven family.

A special presentation of four Disneyland television specials The Disneyland Story, Dateline Disneyland, Operation Disneyland, Disneyland After Dark - plus The Disneyland 10th Anniversary Show, all originally broadcast between 1955 and 1970, and hosted by Walt Disney himself. Also includes additional archival footage of Disneyland's opening day and other rare materials. (UK readers note: The

above is only available from amazon.co.uk on Import from the USA)

”To all who come to this happy place - welcome. Disneyland is your land.”

On July 17th, 1955, the park that spawned the television series finally opened for business to a large, invited crowd. “Dateline: Disneyland” aired live on ABC, hosted by Art Linkletter, Ronald Reagan and Bob Cummings. Disney himself dedicated the new project: “To all who come to this happy place - welcome.

Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past and here youth may savour the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams, and the hard facts that have created America... with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world.”

Disney-ABC ventures. The Mickey Mouse Club (1955-59) was a weekday afternoon show that introduced the “Mouseketeers” to American youth (Annette Funicello was probably the best-loved and most remembered cast member). Then there was Zorro (1957-1959), a prime time adventure show about a swashbuckling masked hero in 19th century California.

By 1958, Disneylandwas still a hit and adopted a new name: Walt Disney Presents. Disney wisely produced many of the shows in colour, even though ABC was unable to broadcast in colour. It proved to be a bone of contention between Disney and the network; ABC simply couldn’t afford the equipment to broadcast colour programming at the time. There But what was known as the “International Press were simply not enough colour TV sets in consumer Preview” nearly backfired: Counterfeit tickets hands to make the cost worthwhile; and despite ensured a very crowded park. All major roads in the improving ratings and a growing number of affiliates, area were congested. Many of the drinking fountains ABC was still barely making its payroll and monthly were not operating due to a plumber’s strike–on a bills. day where temperatures reached 101 degrees! The asphalt had been poured the night before, but it was In 1961, NBC executives lured Disney’s anthology so soft women wearing high-heels found their shoes series to the Peacock Network–with the promise sinking into the pavement. Food supplies ran out. A that it would be shown in colour. (Since NBC’s gas leak in Fantasyland caused other portions of the parent company at the time was electronics maker park to close for the afternoon. And parents even RCA, the network was making a major colour push actually threw their kids over the shoulders of on its line-up to help sell RCA colour sets.) If crowds to get them onto a number of rides! News Disneyland was an early commercial for the theme media pundits gave the project a thumbs down, but park, the new NBC series–retitled Walt Disney’s reporters were given a private tour of the park by Wonderful World Of Color – would drum home the Disney himself the following day. And when the “need” for everyone to buy a colour set. In fact, the public was allowed into Disneyland on July 18th, it very first NBC episode introduced a new Disney proved to be an instant hit, grossing ten million animated character–Professor Ludwig Von Drake dollars after its first year of operation. Disney (the bumbling uncle of the famed Donald Duck) – to eventually worked out the kinks, and Disneyland explain how colour broadcasting worked. The new was an unqualified success story. But by 1960, Wonderful World of Color was a solid top-20 hit for Disney bought out ABC’s share.

NBC, becoming a Sunday night institution.

The success of the Disneyland series led to two more

continued...

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Teletronic - Spring/Summer 2014 An American Classic?

”With funds low, ‘Wonderful World of Disney’ began relying more heavily on repeats .”

An acronym for California Highway Patrol this US copseries starred Erik Estrada as devil-may-care Officer Francis 'Ponch' Poncherello and Larry Wilcox as the more down to earth Officer Jonathan Baker. Together the twosome patrolled (on motorbikes) the highways and byways around the vast Los Angeles freeway system where the action was divided between enforcing the law and eyeing the City of Angels' foxy ladies. Typical of its time the series downplayed the violent aspect of a policeman's lot to concentrate on the 'human interest' and humorous elements of their work although the action was beefed up with autocrashes galore. Estrada fell out with the studio over pay and was replaced by former Olympic decathlon champion Bruce Jenner as Officer Steve McLeish, but this proved a temporary absence and Estrada returned. However, Wilcox then left permanently (rumour has it the two stars never saw eye to eye) and in 1983 the series was cancelled. Michael Dorn, who would go on to find success in Star Trek: The Next Generation starred as

Officer Turner from 1979 to 1982.

Walt Disney continued to host the show, making him as familiar to viewers as Ed Sullivan and Lucille Ball.

But when Disney died in 1966, he was not replaced; instead, a voice-over announcer would introduce the show and its varied segments. By this time, World Of Color aired various specials from Disneyland, Disneyproduced films, cartoons and cute short films about humans and animals. By 1969, the series was renamed The Wonderful World of Disney, but the studio was having problems with its bread-andbutter theatrical films; its focus on family-oriented comedies and cartoons proved to be no match for the more sophisticated films coming out from the major studios.

With funds low, Wonderful World of Disney began relying more heavily on repeats from earlier programmes and cartoons from the Disney vault.

Adult viewers began tuning out and checking the competition such as ABC’s crime drama The FBI. In the fall of 1975, “Disney” was moved to an earlier time slot on Sundays, as part of the Federal Communications Commission’s short-lived “Family Hour” regulations that required programmes for general audiences between 7:00 PM and 8:00 PM on Sunday nights.

“Disney” was the gold standard for family viewing, and was designed with the new FCC rules in mind.

But the agency also allowed news and public affairs in the time slot, and that’s what CBS turned to when its family drama Three For The Road died a quick death against “Disney.” CBS simply moved its Sunday afternoon news magazine 60 Minutes to fill the slot, and the show quickly captured an adult audience against Disney and kidvid programmes on ABC. Within a few years, 60 Minutes was the top-rated series on television–beating out every other prime time programme. NBC tried to freshen the nowaging anthology in 1979 with a new name: Disney’s Wonderful World. But it was the same old wine with a new label. By 1981, NBC finally cut the Disney anthology loose; CBS picked up the show with yet another name change--Walt Disney – and moved it to Saturday nights. It lasted for two more seasons.

While ratings were marginal, the decision to drop the Disney anthology came from the studio itself, not CBS. In early 1983, the company finally moved into the cable television game with The Disney Channel – and it feared the CBS series would take viewers that would normally watch the new familyfriendly cable offering. When Walt Disney went off the air, it had run on all three major networks for a total of 29 seasons – one of the longest-running

anthologies in American television history (only the Hallmark Hall of Fame, which airs as occasional made-for-television films, has had a longer run).

When Michael Eisner took over The Walt Disney Company in 1984, he quickly shook the sleepy entertainment giant out from its Sleeping Beautylike slumber of mediocre films and low earnings. One of his early moves was reinstating the Disney anthology–this time with Eisner as host–on ABC in 1986 (now renamed the Disney Sunday Movie). Two years later, ABC’s option with Disney was not renewed and the movie night went to NBC, where it ran through 1990.

Eisner was a programmer at ABC during the 1960's and 1970's–and soon became its owner. In 1985, ABC was purchased by Capital Cities Communications, a very successful owner of television stations, newspapers and magazines. In 1996, The Walt Disney Company purchased Capital Cities-ABC; soon after, the Disney anthology returned to its original network home. Today, it airs as an occasional special on ABC, featuring Disney films – both theatrical and made for television.

Walt Disney indeed made his mark on television; by the fall of 1955, studios such as Warner Brothers, MGM and 20th Century Fox began producing series for television – not only on ABC, but on the other networks. The long-standing feud between the film studios and television was coming to an end, as each realized it could benefit from the other. Disney also showed the world a well-run theme park could be a major hit; and proved the effectiveness of crosspromotion.

And all it took was a little Disney magic to help make it happen.

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Teletronic - Spring/Summer 2014 A Cult Classic to buy on DVD: Fawlty Towers (1975–1979)

Remaking a Classic - how Steptoe and Son became Sanford and Son

Having secured its place as a British comedy classic, it’s sometimes easy to forget that the entire run of Fawlty Towers amounts to only twelve episodes – the first series of six episodes broadcast in 1975 followed by a second six-part series in 1979. With a variety of overthe-top characters and scenery -chewing performances, the comedy is rarely subtle … but that may be what gives Fawlty Towers its appeal and its longevity. At its best it is an old -fashioned stage farce, presenting us with the broadest of characters in increasingly ridiculous situations. Watch it, enjoy it.

Just don’t mention the war.

Steven Miscandlon 2014

Included in Time Magazine's 2007 list of "100 Best Shows of All Time", Sanford and Son was based on the BBC Galton and Simpson sitcom Steptoe and Son. However, had a plan to make an American version of the award winning Britcom come to fruition as early as 1964, Sanford and Son as we now know it might never have been made.

In the UK, by 1964 Steptoe and Son had already secured its place in television history winning awards for the series itself, the actors Harry H. Corbett and Wilfrid Brambell, and the scriptwriters Alan Simpson and Ray Galton. Lauded by critics and fans alike, the original scripts had been adapted for radio and Pye Records had released a series of bestselling albums. The stars themselves had been enticed to the big screen, Corbett making the Galton and Simpson penned The Bargee, and Brambell, perhaps more famously, appearing as Paul McCartney's granddad in what was then seen as the ground-breaking pop-culture movie A Hard Day's Night. Such was the British series’ high profile that a US film producer, Joseph E. Levine, founder of Embassy Pictures, decided to invest in a pilot episode for NBC. The US remake (for that’s exactly what it was) was to retain its British title and two actors were cast for the roles of Harold and Albert: Aldo Ray and Lee Tracy respectively. The setting for the series was Chicago. In spite of filming the pilot, it was never shown on US television. Despite that, Levine retained the rights for an American version right up until 1971. Even before then, discussions took place to try another pilot, this time for Screen Gems, but the programme makers could not make

up their minds on how to best portray the characters. “We spent two months writing a pilot.”

Said Alan Simpson. “But they couldn’t cast it. They said it was too ethnic and didn’t know where to set it. 'We can't set it in New York - they'd be Italian or Jewish. We can't set it in Chicago - they'd be Italian, too. We can't set it in Los Angeles, they'd be Mexicans. So it's a bit of a problem, really.' The writers suggested they do it with an all-black cast.

“They said, 'that’s a wonderful idea but if they are poverty stricken the network won’t wear it. Black people have to be doctors or lawyers.'”

In 1971 US TV producer Norman Lear took up the relinquished rights to the show. Lear had previously created a huge hit out of another British sitcom; Till Death Us Do Part which he took to America and adapted as All In The Family. In Archie Bunker America had an iconic television character. Now Lear was on the lookout for another series that would duplicate this success.

Lear set about making a pilot starring Bernard Hughes and Paul Sorvino. But like the previous pilot in 1964, this one was also considered a failure and never aired. Nevertheless, Lear persevered and decided to rewrite the characters as a black father and son and set it in Los Angeles. When Galton and Simpson told him that's what they'd suggested in 1967 they were told "Ah, but you couldn't do that then. You can now."

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Teletronic - Spring/Summer 2014 A Cult Classic to buy on DVD:

Remaking a Classic...

Redd Foxx had seen his salary increase from $15,000 to $20,000 a week but was still unhappy that he was, in his opinion, being underpaid. When the producers refused his demands for an increase Foxx became belligerent.

Children of the Stones (1977) Children of the Stones was a particularly haunting highlight of a period that was, in many ways, a golden age for children’s TV drama. This seven-part series sees young Matthew Brake and his astrophysicist father (played by a pre-Blake’s 7 Gareth Thomas) arrive in the peaceful village of Milbury. Over the course of the series, the story explores the village’s ancient stone circle and Druidic past, a power from beyond the stars and the sinister brainwashing of the villagers. Building claustrophobically to a thoughtprovoking finale, it’s a series that, once seen, you will find hard to forget. It’s easy to see why Stewart Lee, narrating a 2012 radio documentary about the show’s lasting appeal, described it as “the scariest programme ever made for children”.

Steven Miscandlon 2014

He began missing rehearsals and eventually recordings-calling in sick, until the show was forced into reruns. The writers wrote him out of the series for sixteen episodes while the producers took out an injunction on him to stop him working for anyone else. They then hit him with a ten million dollar Actor Redd Foxx was cast as Fred G. Sanford, a 65lawsuit. Foxx began drinking heavily, gambling and year-old widower and junk dealer living at 9114 S. playing around with different women. His wife of 19 Central Avenue in the Watts neighbourhood of South years walked out on him and filed for divorce.

Central Los Angeles, California; alongside Desmond Eventually, Foxx relented on the contract demands, Wilson as his 30-year-old son, Lamont Sanford. Foxx the producers dropped the legal action and he portrayed Sanford as a sarcastic, irascible schemer returned at a time when the series ratings were whose frequent get-rich-quick ideas routinely falling drastically. But with the star of the show back backfire. Like his British counterpart, when things on board Sanford and Son's fortunes turned round were not going well for Fred he'd feign a heart attack and Foxx eventually got his increase as well as a share - 15 before the end of the first episode! He made a in the profits of the series. catchphrase out of his announcement to his long deceased wife "I'm coming Elizabeth, I'm coming. This is the big one!" In his more melancholy moments he'd make long speeches to Elizabeth but in his more aggressive moods he'd take up the stance of a fighter, clenching his fists in the face of authority and muttering: "How would you like one across your lips?" His son Lamont longs for independence, but, as in the British version in the same way that Harold Steptoe feels about Albert Steptoe, Lamont loves his father too much to move out on his own and leave the trouble-prone Fred unsupervised. Though each owns an equal share in the business Fred is the boss, Lamont often finds himself doing all the work. Fred often insults his son, usually calling him a "big dummy." Lamont also insults his father, referring to him as an "old fool." However, the two share a close By 1976, with a number of familiar places having bond and regularly come to each other's aid. Unlike departed Sanford and Son, a clutch of new faces was the British series Sanford and Son is not a twodrafted in. The final programme in the series, hander and a regular supporting cast would often broadcast Friday 2 September 1977, ended with infringe on the two central figures. Ray Galton admitted: 'Our contribution to Sanford and Son was Lamont getting engaged to his sweetheart, Janet. The wedding was planned as the opening episode of the very limited. The first series was something like 14 following season. But it never came about. Redd Foxx programmes, 11 of which were based on our show. had made a firm commitment to a variety show for But after that it was turned into a gang show. They ABC, informing NBC, quite unceremoniously, that he brought in aunties, friends, next-door neighbours...' would not be available for another season of Sanford First airing on 14 January 1972, as a mid-season and Son. NBC decided to continue the series replacement to Jack Webb’s failed show The D.A., promoting Desmond Wilson to solo star status but Sanford and Son was an instant hit with US this led to another pay dispute. With the prospect of audiences. After its first 13 episodes, the show was becoming the main star of Sanford and Son Wilson picked up for another season. By its second season, demanded a huge increase in wages that NBC simply the show ranked number two behind All in the felt was more than he was worth. Rather than pay Family in the all-important American TV ratings. up, NBC simply cancelled the series.

However, by the end of the third season, there were already problems brewing behind the scenes.

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Teletronic - Spring/Summer 2014

A Cult Classic to buy on DVD: Doctor Who – The Beginning (1963–1964)

Remaking a Classic...

However, NBC were still keen to continue with the Sanford franchise, especially as the show was still doing well in the ratings when it was cancelled. To this end, they created a spin-off. The Sanford Arms took some of Sanford and Son's best-loved supporting characters and promoted them to the forefront in a sitcom that found them running the Sanford Arms hotel. NBC were hoping that fans loyal to Sanford and Son would tune in and make the new show a hit. The series aired just two weeks after the last episode of Sanford and Son. It was off the air in less than a month. Determined not to write the franchise off completely, NBC enticed Redd Foxx back as Fred Sanford, but Desmond Wilson, still in dispute over salary, did not return. The series lasted for

Today Doctor Who has a greater international appeal than ever, with millions of fans in countries all across the globe. But here’s where it all started. The BBC’s “The Beginning” box set presents the mysterious Time Lord’s three earliest televised adventures: An Unearthly Child, The Daleks and The Edge of Destruction.

These thirteen episodes take us from our very first meeting with the strange time traveller to Earth’s ancient past, then the alien world of Skaro, before exploring a short tale of creeping paranoia on board the TARDIS itself. Needless to say, it’s the middle story that’s the most engaging here – during the original seven-week run of The Daleks, viewing figures almost doubled, Dalekmania was born, and the course was firmly set for the next fifty years of children screeching “EXTERMINATE!” at each other in the playground.

three short seasons before the Sanford franchise finally came to a close in 1981. Redd Foxx passed away in 1991. During a break in rehearsals for his last sitcom, The Royal Family, he had a heart attack. The rest of the cast and crew thought he was doing his classic routine from Sanford and Son. But sadly, this time 'the big one' had come for real. Foxx never regained consciousness.

Sanford and Son remains one of the most beloved sitcoms in American television history successfully crossing any racial barriers to be enjoyed by all audiences. When a US version of Steptoe and Son was first suggested in the 1960s the BBC said they would never show any other version other than the original.

To this day Sanford and Son has never aired in the UK. Marc Saul 2013

Twenty Questions to Test Your (classic) TV Knowledge: 1.

Which soap opera briefly returned to ITV in 2001 after a thirteen-year absence?

2.

What was the name of the paranoid android in the Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy?

3.

What is Geraldine Grainger better known as?

4.

Who played Prunella Scales' long-suffering daughter in the Tesco TV commercials?

5.

What was Gambit's first name in The New Avengers?

6.

In which sitcom would you find the character Patrick Glover?

7.

Who narrated Tales of the Riverbank?

8.

Who provided the voice of Captain Scarlet?

9.

...And what BBC detective series did the actor star in?

10.

Who co-wrote Fawlty Towers with John Cleese?

11.

Which game show was introduced, "From Norwich, it's the quiz of the week..."?

12.

What was TV's noughts and crosses quiz-game called?

13.

Julian Lloyd-Webber's 'Variations' is used as the theme on which arts programme?

14.

What was the name of Nellie Boswell's only daughter in the sitcom Bread?

15.

Which BBC 'family' was named after the BBCTV studios where it was shot?

16.

What was the name of the Soothsayer in Up Pompeii?

17.

Who told contestants that they are the weakest link?

18.

If it's Friday and it's five-to-five then what must it be?

19.

What was the name of the Coronation Street Character played by Arthur Lowe?

20.

What was the name of Hyacinth Bucket's long-suffering husband?

Steven Miscandlon 2014

This third issue of Teletronic will be the last monthly issue. From this issue Teletronic will be published every four months. The next issue will be published September 2014.

Article writers this issue: Frank Collins, Anome Akwuosa, Tim Rands, Mike Spadoni, Josh Turner, Derek Thompson, Amanda Thomas, Steven Miscandlon, Karolina Wage.

Millions of thanks to all who contributed to this issue of Teletronic. All articles are copyright of Teletronic and Television Heaven and may not be reproduced without permission. “Don’t make me angry, you won’t like me when I’m angry” said Dr Banner just before he turned green and ripped his shirt off, but kept his pants on. How does that work? Okay, good - you’re still reading this bit. If you wish to contact Teletronic or Television Heaven you can email televisionheaven@hotmail.co.uk or visit the Television Heaven Facebook page and follow tv_heaven on Twitter.

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